


Blown Away

by LittleMissAnnie



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hurt, Love, Love Confessions, Minor Character Death, Torture, Violence, somewhat canon compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-30 13:36:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 25,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17829566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMissAnnie/pseuds/LittleMissAnnie
Summary: When Summer needs a fresh start, she chooses Hawaii to get just that. Things seem to be going Summer's way: she had an amazing job, friends that are "ohana" to her and someone she loves deeply. But sometimes, even the brightest day gets a bit cloudy. That's exactly what happens to Summer. How will she clear the clouds and bring back the sun?





	1. Hawaii

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, my lovelies.  
> Hope you guys enjoy my newest story.  
> Just a heads up, these chapters are slightly longer than usual.  
> Let me know what you think.  
> Love y'all.  
> Annie

Hawaii. The Sunshine State. A little piece of heaven, if you ask her.

Summer never thought, not in a million years, that she would be living there. And yet, there she was.

She’s lived her whole life in New Jersey, New York. And up until a few years ago, moving to Hawaii was just a dream, wishful thinking at the most. But when she needed a fresh start, that was the only place that made sense to her.

She would never have ventured moving to another state without a support system in place, but the need to start fresh was too big, so she packed her bags and said goodbye to New Jersey and aloha to Hawaii. The fact that her brother had moved there just a few months before, was an added bonus.

She’s been living on the island for two years now and it has been the best two years of her life. She works as a restaurant manager and loves it. She goes to work in the morning, works her ass off to make sure that everything is perfect for her guests, clocks out midafternoon and still has time to go to the beach and swim for a couple of hours.

You see, unlike her brother, she loves the water and the beach. It’s where she feels most at home. That’s why she always wanted to live there, so she could be closer to the water, not to mention that the guys are a lot hotter than they are in Jersey. At least, she thought they were.

She had also made new friends. Friends that had quickly became family, or, as they say on the islands, “ohana”, to her. Some of those friends were her brother’s coworkers. But for the last two years, they had turned into people whom she could no longer imagine her life without.

That doesn’t mean that she doesn’t get homesick, she does, but living there was a lot nicer than living in Jersey, without all the bad memories and constant run-ins with people she definitely didn’t want to see. In Hawaii, every single day would bring a new happy memory with it and she wouldn’t trade it for anything.

But, as much as she thought her life was good, things were about to change.


	2. We Need Help

**_ Flashback - Two days ago _ **

\- ‘’So, let me get this straight. This guy managed to build bombs that can only be defused by typing in the answer to a riddle that he gives us. And every time he does, we can’t track him?’’ – Lou was frustrated. This guy has been two steps ahead of them since this thing started.

\- “Not just that, but the answer appears to have to be in computer coding.” - Chin added.

\- ‘’This goes way beyond my skillset. This guy is scary good. We need someone as good or better than him.’’ – Kono said, feeling frustrated herself.

\- ‘’We need Toast. He might be able to help.’’ – Steve claimed, hoping that their friend Toast, a great hacker, could help catch this guy.

\- ‘’Toast is on the mainland. Something about his father.’’ – Danny answered, knowing that their chances of finding someone else were close to none.

\- ‘’How about his roommate, what’s his name? Bullwinkle?’’

\- ‘’Also on the mainland.’’

Danny knew that things were going to get worse before they got better. He knew that they needed someone who could rival with this hacker, someone who could give him a run for his money. The thing was that both of their usual guys were out of the island.

He still had one person he could ask. A person that no one on the team knew about. But doing so would make that person break a promise and he was never too keen on breaking promises. He thought he still had time. He wasn’t going to ask that person until he was absolutely sure that there was no other option.

\- ‘’Kono, just do your best. We’ll see if we can come up with either a way to find this guy or someone to help you.’’ – Steve said to Kono, knowing very well that there was only so much that she could do.

\- ‘’Okay, boss. I’ll see what else I can do.’’

As Kono is typing away in the HQ computer to try and find a way to track this guy, Steve can’t stop thinking that it would be next to impossible for Kono to find him. Not that she wasn’t good, she was, but she was also right when she said that this went beyond her skillset. Their only hope was that they could end this as soon as possible, before someone got hurt or worse.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

**_Present Day..._ **

For the past four days the team has been trying to find this hacker, the “Dark Wizard” as he calls himself, to no avail. And, to make matters worse, the riddles kept getting harder.

In the beginning the riddles were fairly easy, nothing that Kono couldn’t figure out. But as time went by, the riddles became harder and soon it wasn’t just Kono trying to solve them, so were the techs from the lab. With everyone trying to solve them, they eventually succeeded, but this was just a taste of what was to come.

That’s when things became worse and Danny had to make a hard decision. He didn’t want to but he knew it was needed. He was still trying to come to terms with his decision when he pulled up to the house. He knew what the consequences would be if he didn’t do this.

He took a deep breath and knocked quickly on the door.

\- “Hey, big brother. What’s cooking?’’ – Summer asked her big brother, a smile that could light up a room on her lips.

\- ‘’Hey Summer. Listen, I don’t have a lot of time. I need to ask you something and I need you to be completely honest with me, okay?’’ – that raised a few red flags with Summer. The look on her brother’s face was clear: this wasn’t a social visit.

\- ‘’Sure, Danno. What’s going on?’’

\- ‘’Do you still have your things from back when you were a hacker?’’

\- ‘’Danny, what’s going on?’’

\- ‘’Summer, please, just answer my question.’’ – her brother was pleading with her. Now she was sure something was terribly wrong. He had never asked that before. It was somewhat of an off-limits topic, to the both of them.

\- ‘’Yeah, I still have them. I told you that I was going to keep them because of some of the programs I have in those hard-drives. If they fell in the wrong hands, they could be dangerous. But, why you’re asking me this, Danny? I’m retired, remember?’’

\- ‘’I know, but something happened and I need you to come out of retirement. Just this once.’’ – the look on his face was all the explanation she needed. She didn’t care what this was about, her brother wouldn’t be asking her to break the promise she made him all those years ago, if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.

\- ‘’Okay, give me ten minutes to get everything and we’ll go.’’ - Danny let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as she made her way towards her bedroom.

Summer went straight to her bedside, catching her reflection on the closet door mirror. Anyone who would look at her wouldn’t believe that she used to be a hacker: she was of medium height, curvy, with dark brown hair and blue eyes. She didn’t have a troubled past, or a fight to pick with the government, like most hackers do. Add to that the fact that her father was a firefighter and her brother a cop and everyone would think that she was joking. She definitely didn’t fit into the stereotypical hacker look.

She pulled her nightstand to the side, took a piece of the hardwood floor out and pulled a backpack that was tucked inside. In there were all of her hard-drives. After collecting that, she returned to the living room where she went on to gather her laptop, phone and both chargers.

\- ‘’I’m ready. Shall we?’’ – she asked her brother.

Little did she know what she was about to get herself into and that the ‘’Dark Wizard’’ had made things personal.


	3. Ohana

\- ‘’So, are you going to tell me what this is all about? So I know what I have to do?’’ – Summer asked her brother as they were making their way through traffic, heading towards the palace, Danny driving like a maniac.

\- ‘’Have you been following the news lately?’’

\- ‘’Yeah, somewhat. Why?’’

\- ‘’We’ve been trying to arrest this guy, this hacker, for the past four days. He sets up a bomb, at some very public place, that can only be disarmed if you enter the correct computer coding as an answer to a riddle that he gives us. Up until now, Kono and the boys from the lab have been able to solve these riddles, but things got a bit… complicated.’’

\- ‘’What do you mean by complicated?’’

\- ‘’This time he decided to plant a bomb in a school bus that has 21 kids in it, plus the teacher and the bus driver. We can’t evacuate them because we have no idea where they are and if we do find them, and try to evacuate the bus, the bomb goes off. And Summer…Gracie’s in there.’’

\- ‘’WHAT?’’ – she didn’t know what else to say. Her niece, her sweet, beautiful, caring niece was on that bus. Even before Danny had said that Gracie was on the bus, she already knew that she would do everything in her power to help and save those kids, but now, well, now was personal.

\- ‘’That’s why I’m making you break your promise, that’s why I went to get you. Our usual guys aren’t on the island and you’re the only one who can help save these kids, Summer. I don’t like it, but it is what it is. But, there’s something else.’’

\- ‘’Now what?’’

\- ‘’Before I went to pick you up, we got a message from him. He said that, in order to find him, we needed to find the white fairy. For some reason, I remembered that your hacker name used to be ‘’White Fairy’’, so I took it as a sign to go and get you. Maybe he knows you, or maybe he doesn’t, either way we need you.’’

Summer knew she would have to bring her A game, if she was to help those kids and find out who this guy is. It has been a long time since she has hacked into something or that she even had to do coding but something like that was like riding a bike, you never forget.

They got to the palace and as they walked up to the building, a question popped into Summer’s mind.

\- ‘’Have you told them?’’

\- ‘’What?’’

\- ‘’Have you told the team about me? How I used to be a hacker?’’

\- ‘’No, I haven’t. I figure it would be best if it was you who told them. After all, it is your past, not mine. I thought it was not my place to tell them.’’

\- ‘’Okay. Just so I know what I’m walking into.’’ – Knowing that she had to tell the team about her past made her nervous. It was, as all things like this are, complicated, but she knew that, in order to help save those kids, she would have to trust them.

But, how will they react when she tells them that she used to be a hacker? Will they see her as a threat? She didn’t know what to think. All she could hope for was that they would let her just do what she was there to do and leave the questions for after they rescued those kids.

This were the thoughts that ran through her mind as they made their way up to the 5-O HQ. Summer soon realized she was close when she heard the very distinct voice of Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett.

\- “Has anyone seen Danny?”

\- “I leave for five minutes and you’re already missing me? I wonder what will happen when I retire.” – Danny teased Steve, knowing all to well that his best friend was just worried that he might had gone and done something stupid, which he contemplated on doing but he chose to enlist Summer instead.

\- “Ha ha, very funny Danno.” – Steve, sarcastically, said. That’s when he noticed a certain brunette standing behind Danny, with her backpack and laptop bag on her shoulder. – “Hey, Summer. Is everything alright? Do you need help?”

\- “Actually, I’m here to help you.” – All of a sudden, all eyes were on her. She could feel them sizing her up, trying to figure out what she meant.

\- “Help with what?” – Lou was the first to ask.

\- “To find the hacker and save the kids.” – Danny firmly answered. He knew the team was going to have questions but now wasn’t the time. All he wanted was for them to just move aside and let Summer do what she did best and help them rescue those kids.

\- “Look, I know that all of you have a shit load of questions and I’ll answer them all, once this is over. I’ll even buy the first round of drinks, but right now you need to give me access to your computer and let me try and track that bomb and maybe even find this guy. Deal?”

No one said anything, they just looked at her, waiting to see what she was going to do. Summer just shrugged and walked over to the central computer, hooking up her own laptop to it and started by solving the latest riddle. It took her less than five minutes to do so. Next, she tried tracking where the riddles were being sent from, but to no luck. This guy was rerouting his IP address through all five continents, which meant that it was going to take some time and patience to find him.

\- “This guy is good. I feel like I’ve seen this coding before, but I can’t quite place it. Does he have a name?”

\- “He calls himself “Dark Wizard”. That’s all we know about him.” – Kono answered, hoping that Summer might know who he is. Granted, the hacking world is big but she did say she recognized the coding, so maybe, just maybe, she knows who he is and that that might help them catch this guy.

\- “What did you just say?” – Summer stopped in her tracks. It had to be a mistake.

\- “That’s what he calls himself, “Dark Wizard”. Why?”

\- “Shit. That’s why I recognized the coding. This guy is as bad as they come in the hacking world. Long story short, he’s probably still pissed at me because I shut him down a couple of times. But this was years ago. Long before I even moved here. Why now? What does he get from this?” – Summer couldn’t believe. This guy was like gum on the bottom of her shoe, he just didn’t go away.

She had a few run-ins with him in the past, always ending with her shutting him down. To say he hated her, was an understatement. Up until she became a hacker, he was the one that everyone feared, but after a couple of run-ins with her, that fear started to dissipate and he didn’t like that, at all.

She was a rookie when she had her first confrontation with him, but she was also a natural, which meant that she was capable of writing lines of code that no one else would even dare touch. And that was what rubbed him off in the wrong way. He was determined to shut her down, but every time that he would try, it would backfire.

Summer was remembering all of this when, suddenly, a live feed of the school bus appeared on the screens. Summer knew it was the “Wizard” so she started typing furiously on her laptop to try and find from where was the feed being transmitted.

It took her a few minutes but she was able to find it, only to face a different problem. She noticed that the cameras inside the HQ were transmitting a feed to an external source, meaning that someone had hacked into the cameras and was watching what was happening inside the HQ.

Without warning, Summer’s phone started to ring. Somehow, she knew that it was him. She put him on speaker.

\- “Welcome, White Fairy. Took you long enough to join the party.” – The hacker was taunting her. She knew that, but why did he want her there? He had to know that, if she was there, he had already lost. Could he be that cocky to think this time was different?

\- “Yeah, well, you know what they say: better late than never. Besides, I wasn’t expecting to have to leave my house today and have a private tour of the 5-0 headquarters, so…”

\- “You were always such a smart ass. But careful, that might cost you.” – She knew she had to keep him talking. She quickly send a group message to the entire team telling them about the cameras and how she was trying to find a way to block the signal going into the bus, preventing it from blowing up until they got there.

\- “That’s funny. My brother used to tell me that when I was a kid, but I never listened. What makes you think I’m going to listen to you?”

\- “Because if you don’t, you can say goodbye to your niece. Grace, right? She’s such a sweet little girl.”

\- “I’m gonna tell you this one time and one time only: if anything happens to her or to anyone on that bus, I will hunt you down. You’re not going to be safe anywhere. If you remember who I am, then you know what I can do. So, I suggest you think twice before threatening me again, got it?” – No one was expecting that, with the exception of Danny. That was a whole different side of Summer that the team had never seen before. She was beyond pissed. Danny knew this side of her would always come out when she felt that someone was threatening her family and you did not want to be around if she ever followed through on her threats.

It took a couple of minutes for the “Wizard” to talk again. Whatever it was that Summer was capable of doing, it had to be worse than what the authorities could do to him. And you could tell by his voice that he knew she wasn’t making empty threats.

\- “I suggest you don’t threat the person that holds your niece’s life in his hands, Fairy.” – Not even he was convinced by what he had just said, his voice shaking slightly.

\- “And I suggest you stop jerking around and tell me what you want, otherwise I’m going to hang up.”

\- “You wouldn’t da…” – And with that, Summer disconnected the call.

\- “Are you insane?” – Everyone was in shock. Well, almost everyone. Danny and Steve recognized the tactic. It was vastly used by the FBI and the Military to try and force the bad guy to make a mistake.

\- “Now that we have some alone time, you’ll find on your phones the location of the bus and the location of the “Wizard”. Just go and don’t worry about the cameras, they’re on a loop, so, as far as he knows, we’re all still here. Call if you need me.”

And with that, the team split up. Danny and Steve, with backup from HPD, went to get the kids, while Lou, Kono and Chin went to get the “Wizard”.

Her phone rang again. All she needed to do now was stall him long enough for Lou, Kono and Chin to get to him.

\- “Kamekona’s shrimp truck. How can I help you?”

\- “I suggest you don’t do that again or you’ll be picking up pieces of your precious niece from everywhere around that bus.”

\- “Riiight. And I’m the genie from Aladdin. What do you want, Wizard? Haven’t you heard? I’m retired, meaning I don’t have time for this.”

\- “What makes you think I want anything?”

\- “Because you’re a prick and don’t do anything without gaining something off of it.”

\- “My prize here is to see your downfall. Admit I’m the better hacker and I will let the kids go. Don’t and they go boom. Simple as that.”

\- “And you expect me to believe you? Dude, you’re even more insane than I thought.”

\- “What’s gonna be, Fairy?” – As he said that, Summer heard Lou’s voice, through the earpiece they had given her before leaving, saying they were just about to breach.

\- “You know what? I think I’ll pass.”

Summer heard a loud bang and Lou’s very distinct husky voice in the background. There was a scuffle and then Kono’s voice came through, saying that they had him in custody. It was over. He was going to jail for a long time.

Letting out a breath she didn’t realized she was holding, she heard her phone ringing again. Looking at the caller ID, she saw it was Danny.

\- “Tell me you got the kids out and that they’re okay.”

\- “Everyone’s out and okay. The Bomb Squad is just taking care of the bomb. How’s the Wizard?”

\- “Enjoying some sightseeing to the HPD precinct.”

\- “It’s over then.”

\- “It’s over.” – Summer said, before hanging up.

Looking around, she realized what they have actually accomplished. She smiled, thinking that she wouldn’t have to worry about that prick ever again. With everyone tying up loose ends, she remembered she owed them an explanation. She decided to leave them a simple note: “8pm @ Kamekona’s”.

“This is going to be an interesting talk, that’s for sure.”, she thought, before leaving.


	4. Not That Girl Anymore

Summer arrived at Kamekona’s half an hour early, thinking she would be the first one there, giving her time to think how to tell the team about her past. But, as she’s approaching the familiar food truck, she realized that someone else was already there.

\- “And here I was thinking that I was going to be the first one.” – She said, approaching the table Steve was sitting at, smiling.

\- “Hey Summer. Yeah, Danny dropped me off before taking Grace home to Rachael. Besides, I like to be on time or at least a little earlier.” – He greeted her, offering the seat next to him, with a smile that could light up the whole island.

\- “I’m the same way. I used to drive my parents crazy because I would insist on leaving the house a whole lot earlier than we were supposed to.”

The conversation flew between them. Steve felt that it was so easy to talk to her. It had been a while since the last time that he had had a conversation as simple and as easy going like the one he was having with Summer. She could make him smile without even trying. He loved being around her, she made things feel so easy between them.

When he saw her, earlier that day, semi-hiding behind Danny with her backpack and laptop bag, his first thought was that she was in trouble and needed their help. And he was ready to help and protect her in any way he could. So, it came as somewhat of a shock, when she said that she was there to help them.

It was in that moment that he realized that he knew very little about her, and he definitely wanted to know more. He knew that, with her being Danny’s baby sister, she was off-limits, but that didn’t stop him from wondering what would be like to have her in his arms. “Knock it off. She’s Danny’s sister. Are you trying to have Danny kill you?”, Steve mentally berated himself.

Slowly, as 8pm approached, the rest of the team started to arrive. First was Kono and Chin, then Lou and finally Danny. They all took a seat at the table where Steve and Summer were seated at. She was sitting in the middle of Steve, to her left, and Danny, to her right. Across from her, she had Kono, with Lou across from Danny and Chin across from Steve.

Summer got up and went to get the first round of beers, as promised, before telling them about her past. She needed those extra few seconds to compose and mentally prepare herself for what was to come. She didn’t know how they would react.

Would they be okay with her being a former hacker? Would they see her in a different way because of it? She wasn’t that girl anymore, but they could still perceive her as a threat, even if Danny was her brother. She went back to the table, beers in hand, took a deep breath and got ready to tell them about one of the darkest periods in her life.

\- “Okay, now that everyone’s here and we all have our beers, I guess it’s time. Before anything else, you need to understand that there are two types of hackers: the white hats and the black hats.”

“The white hats are the ones that use their knowledge for good, like work with law enforcement, the military, even private companies to protect their data, like your friends Toast and Bullwinkle.”

“Then you have the black hats. These guys are like guns for hire. They will hack everything and anything for a profit or to create chaos.  Me? I’m a white hat.”

“So, this was back in late 2000, before the world changed and our lives with it. I started hanging out with the wrong crowd. I was rebelling. I was so tired of being the perfect daughter, perfect grades, perfect behavior, of hearing my parents saying to follow my brothers’ footsteps, of how successful they were. I didn’t want to be like them, I wanted to be my own person, make my own path, but at the time my parents thought differently.”

“So, I rebelled. As I said, I started hanging out with the wrong crowd and, soon after that, I began dating this guy, much older than me, who just so happened to be a hacker. I was always very interested in those type of things, so when he told me he was a hacker, I jumped at the opportunity to learn from him.”

“He taught me everything he knew, but I was a natural so I quickly became better than him. I was writing code that most hackers were too afraid to write because they didn’t know how to handle whatever problems that might occur because of it.”

“Anyways, flash-forward to late 2001. At this point, I was a full fledge hacker, but managed to keep it hidden from everyone. Then, 9/11 happened. I trust you all know how Gracie got her name? Yes? Good.”

“So, when Danny’s partner, the original Grace, died, Danny shut down. He wouldn’t talk to anyone about it. We were all still trying to understand what had happened, not only with the terrorist attacks but also with Danny and Grace. We would try to get him to talk but he just wouldn’t budge. We had no idea what had happened, just that she had died.”

“So, one night, I decided that I was going to find out for myself. I locked myself in my room and hacked into Danny’s precinct’s main frame. I searched for the incident report and when I found it, I printed it. It was extremely easy considering that they never thought that someone would hack them. Or, so I thought. While it was printing, I decided to take a look. I got so flustered with what I had read, that after it was printed, I got out of the system but forgot to cover my tracks.”

“The very next day, Danny’s Captain and a sleazy Detective from Internal Affairs, showed up at our doorstep. At the time, Danny and Rachel were staying with us because of the baby and the stress of all that had happened. They asked to talk to Danny alone, but, me being the oh-so-curious-cat that I was, decided to eavesdrop.”

“What I heard made my blood boil. They were accusing Danny of hacking the system to change his report without anyone knowing, accusing him of being a dirty cop. The IA Detective was saying that he could face jail time for tampering with an official report. I couldn’t listen anymore.”

“I burst into the room and told them that it wasn’t Danny who they were looking for, that it was me. Now, keep in mind that, at the time, I was just shy from turning 15 years old. They didn’t believe me, they thought that I was just trying to cover for my brother.”

“So, to prove that I was the one who had hacked into the main frame, I sat at our Dad’s computer and hacked into the personal file of the IA Detective. I read everything that was there, from his wife’s name to his social security number, then hacked into his bank account and told him how much money he had there. After that, they believed me.”

“I remember looking at Danny and seeing something in his face that I had never seen before: disappointment. He couldn’t even look me in the eyes. I remember crying as I told his Captain why I did what I did. Luckily, he believed me. He said that the only reason why he wasn’t arresting me was because of my brother, that he had already lost a partner, he didn’t need to lose a sister as well. Of course, the IA Detective wasn’t happy about this, but he didn’t push it, thankfully.”

“After they left, I tried talking to Danny, tried to apologize but he didn’t want to talk to me, which I understood. I mean, I had just broken the law, not to mention his trust. It took about a month for Danny to finally come and talk to me.”

“He called me down to our Dad’s office and said he wanted to talk to me. He said that he was disappointed in me, that he never expected that his own sister would do something like this and that he had lost all trust in me. That hurt like hell. I had always looked up to Danny and to hear him say those things to me, it felt like a stab straight through the heart.”

“He asked me if I was still hacking. I told him that I wasn’t. I had stopped the day I was caught. He made me promise that I would never hack again and that maybe, just maybe, I could win his trust back, as long as I kept the promise. And so, I did. I would go to the computer under supervision, only for school work and such. I left the hacking world completely, well, until today that is.”

“I turned my life around after that day. And up until today, I honestly thought that I was never going to have to hack into anything anymore. That’s it. That’s my past.”

Summer had just dumped a truck load of information about her past. One that no one saw coming. Tears were streaming down her face as she was trying to hold herself together. She could feel a hand rubbing her back, but when she turned to Danny, thinking it was him, she realized that it was in fact Steve who was trying to calm her down. Danny had one of her hands tucked in between his.

They were all still processing what they had just heard, when she got up and went to get another round, taking the time to calm down. Steve followed her close behind. He thought that she might needed some encouragement after all that.

\- “Hey, you okay?”

\- “Yeah, it’s just that, I’m not proud of that period of my life so it’s not an easy thing to talk about, you know?”

\- “I understand. Look, just so you know, I think that you did it for all the right reasons and you have kept your promise to Danny all these years. For what it’s worth, I got your back, okay?” – He had to make sure that she knew that he didn’t see her in a different way, just because of one wrong choice made so many years ago.

\- “Thanks, Steve. That really means a lot.” – A shy smile escaped her lips.

They made their way back to the table, a new round of beers with them. Chin was the first to speak about what she had just told them.

\- “Listen, Summer. One of the many good things of this team is that, we are not just a team, we’re a family. I know what is like to have to win people’s trust again and this family was and still is my biggest supporter. So, with that said, as far as I’m concerned, nothing changed. But I’m sure going to call you every time my computer acts up.” – Everyone chuckled at that last comment.

\- “Chin’s right. Nothing changed. Sure, you made a wrong choice, but you have kept your promise, that is good enough for me. Besides, what family doesn’t have its times of trouble?” – Kono was short and sweet, as always. Summer always liked her and was glad that nothing changed between them.

\- “Well, as long as you don’t tell my kids, we’re good. Trust me, you don’t need that headache.” – Lou jokingly said. This was his way of letting her know that everything was good.

\- “You did really good today, sis. I know I was hard on you in the past, but if it wasn’t for your skillset today, I don’t even want to think what might have happened. So, thank you for helping us bring those kids home. A toast: to Summer.”

\- “To Summer.” – They all joined Danny in his toast, smiles on their faces and no signs of judgement in their eyes. They were genuinely glad that she was there with them and she could feel that nothing had changed between them.

Steve couldn’t help but glance at Summer. She had just poured her heart out. When she started to cry, he didn’t even think, he instinctively reached his hand to her back and started rubbing circles, in an attempt to calm her down. She looked so helpless, and all he wanted was to wrap his arms around her and tell her that everything was going to be alright. “Stop thinking like that, Danny will kill you if he finds out.”, he thought.

Soon, the team finished their beers and it was time to call it a night. Lou left first, followed by Chin and Kono. It was then that Steve and Danny saw themselves in a predicament.

\- “What’s going on guys?” – Summer asked, approaching the men by Danny’s car.

\- “Well, since Super Seal over here never brings his car, I’m having to drive him back to his place and from there I have to go all the way across town to go see Grace. If for once, just once, he would bring his own car, I could be half way there by now, but no, I still have to take his ass home.” – It wasn’t like he was pissed, he was just upset. Summer knew how important it was for Danny to be able to see Grace, specially after what had happened, so she decided to help her big brother out.

\- “I can take him. I’m heading that way anyway, so…”

\- “Are you sure, Summer? I don’t want to impose.” – Steve said.

\- “Oh, with her you don’t want to impose, but with me, I can’t even drive my own car.”

\- “So, what’s gonna be, boys? I need to know, ‘cause I’m getting hungry and want to go grab dinner.”

\- “You sure you don’t mind, sis?”

\- “It’s cool, Danno. Like I said, I’m heading that way. I’ll drop him off and then go home. You just go and see Gracie. Oh, and tell her that Auntie Summer loves her, please.”

\- “Thanks, sis. I will. I owe you one. And you, behave. Don’t think for a second that she’s going to put up with your crap like I do, got it?”

\- “Just go, Danny. And tell Gracie that Uncle Steve loves her too.” – She couldn’t help but chuckle at the banter between the two men.

Danny got in his car and Summer and Steve started to walk towards her car. The entire time he tried convincing her to let him drive but she wasn’t going to budge. She loved to drive, especially her black 1967 Chevrolet Impala. That was her baby and no one but her drives it. When they got to the car, he understood why.

They got inside the car, Steve in the passenger seat and Summer behind the wheel. The engine roared, how she loved that sound. When she felt they were ready to go, she looked at him with a smile.

\- “Shall we?”


	5. The Beginning

The ride back to his house was filled with laughter. Steve tried his best to make her forget about the talk she just had with the team. He hated seeing her upset. They talked about everything, from cars to Grace, even about Danny and his antics.

Soon they were at his house and, for some reason, he didn’t want to leave her just yet.

\- “Thanks for the ride. You really didn’t have to.”

\- “I know, but it was no trouble. Like I said, I was coming this way anyhow, so…”

\- “Hey, since you said that you were getting hungry, how about I cook us dinner? As a thank you for everything you did today, plus the ride home? It’s the least I can do.”

\- “You really don’t need to. It’s fine.”

\- “I know I don’t need to, but I want to. Please?”

\- “Sure. Why not? It will be nice to have company for dinner for a change.” – Her shy smile melted his heart. Dear Lord, what was happening to him?

Summer grabbed her bags from the backseat of the Impala and walked up to the front door following Steve closely. Steve showed her around and told her to make herself comfortable while he started taking care of dinner. “Maybe if I focus on dinner, I won’t be tempted to do something stupid.”, he thought, glancing back at the living room where Summer was standing, looking around.

He pulled two steaks from the fridge and everything needed to make a salad. He had just finished seasoning the steaks and was in the process of putting them in the oven when she walked in the kitchen.

\- “Your house is beautiful. I would kill, not literally of course, for that backyard.”

\- “Thanks. This was my parents house. After my dad died, it became mine, being the oldest and all. And you’re right, that backyard is pretty awesome. Since I swim every morning before going to work, it’s a lot easier to have the ocean just outside my back door.”

\- “It’s funny because I can see the ocean from my backyard, but I still have to drive a couple of miles to get there. I really love the water. I go for a swim everyday after work. And I’m thinking about learning how to surf as well. I mean, when in Rome, you know?”

\- “If you want, I can teach you. I tried teaching Danny, but he’s pretty much a lost cause. Kono also tried and she agrees with me, so… But, seriously, if you want, I think it would be fun.” – He didn’t even think about what he was saying. All he heard was an opportunity to spend more time with her and he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to take it.

\- “You really don’t mind? I mean, it would be tricky with my schedule and yours, but if you think we can make it work, I would really like that.”

\- “Yeah, it will be fine. We’ll work around our schedules and we’ll meet up on our day off. Don’t worry, we’ll make it work.” – Summer couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Not only was she getting surf lessons, but she was going to be spending a lot more time with him. “What’s wrong with you? That’s Danny’s best friend. Do you want to give him a heart attack?”, Summer thought, knowing very well that she could never pursue whatever feelings she could be developing for Steve.

Steve was determined to make it work. He was already figuring out how to make it work around their schedules, while preparing the salad. He took the tray of steaks out of the oven and by the time he went to cut them, he was so deep in thought that ended up cutting his hand.

\- “Crap!!!”

\- “Wow. Here, put some pressure on it.” – She gave him a towel as he puts his hand under water to help stop the bleeding.

\- “I’ll be fine. Just a small cut.”

\- “Let me see.” – As soon as their hands touched it was like everything else disappeared. Their eyes were locked on each other and they both could feel an electrical tingle all over their bodies, their breaths hitched on their throats.

Summer was the first to come back to reality. She looked down at his hand, trying to make sure he couldn’t see the effect those few seconds had on her. She could feel the callouses, made from years of gripping a gun, under her fingertips as she examined his cut. She wondered what it would be like to feel them against her skin. “Knock it off!”, she told herself, “Focus on the cut.”

Steve, quietly, let a breath he didn’t know he was holding escape his lips. “What the hell was that?”, he thought. He didn’t know if he should be upset that she averted her eyes or grateful that she did, because he was definitely on the verge of kissing her, already starting to lean into her when she looked away. His train of thought was interrupted by Summer clearing her throat.

\- “Where’s your first aid kit?” – She was still blushing. That just made his heart quicken its pace even more.

\- “Here, under the sink.”

\- “Okay, lets see what we got.” – Summer quickly pulled out everything necessary to clean and close the cut on his hand and placed it on the countertop. Thankfully it didn’t need any stitches and it just so happens that he had some surgical glue, which would make closing the cut that much easier.

She took his hand and dried off the wound. Then she disinfected and glued the cut shut. A tight bandage around the cut and hand and he was done. It was during situations like this that she was grateful that her dad made her take a first aid seminar at the firehouse.

To say he was impressed, was an understatement. She had been quick but methodical in taking care of his wound. Even though it wasn’t a deep cut, it still needed attention and she definitely knew what she was doing.

\- “Where did you learned how to do that?” – He asked her. The bandage looked like he had gone to the hospital, that’s how good it was.

\- “My dad made me take a first aid seminar at his firehouse. He wanted to make sure I knew how to help someone or myself, just in case. It has been really useful a couple of times.”

After that, they both decided to forgo the steaks and just order a pizza instead. They spent dinner talking and just enjoying each other’s company. Eventually it was time for Summer to call it a night and go get some rest. After all, she had to work the next morning.

They said their goodbyes and soon Summer was driving home. The events of the night kept replaying in her mind, one in particular. The way their eyes locked, it felt like the entire world had disappeared even if it was for just a couple of seconds. And she could swear that, just before she looked away, she saw him starting to lean in.

What was that about? She was sure she was imagining things, but what if she wasn’t? Could it be possible that he was also starting to have feelings for her? No, no way. “Come on, that man can have any girl in this island. Why would he risk getting killed by Danny?”, she thought.

She got home and decided not to give any more thoughts to the whole situation. “If anything has to happen, then it will happen.”, she thought, while starting her bedtime routine. With that in mind, she took a shower and went to bed.

Across town, Steve was starting to clean up. He didn’t let Summer help, it was the least he could do after ruining the steak dinner with a freaking cut to his hand. But even though he was focused on the task at hand, his mind was going over the events of the evening.

He was definitely dancing with danger. He was starting to have feelings for Summer and it was dangerous. If Danny ever found out, he could lose not just his best friend but the man he considers a brother, a little girl that’s like a niece to him and the girl he’s falling for.

“Crap!!! You’re definitely falling for her. Now what?”, he thought. It wasn’t like he could just come out and say it, no, that would just be worse. He had to keep it to himself. He wasn’t willing to lose the family that he had “adopted” when Danny became his partner. With that final thought, Steve made his way to his room and went to sleep.


	6. One Of Us

It has been a couple of weeks since Summer and Steve had begun her surf lessons. They had just finished their lesson for the day and were standing in the backyard, drying off.

\- “Hey, Summer. There’s something I wanna talk to you about.” – Steve said, seriousness in his voice, grabbing her attention.

\- “Okay. What’s up?” – She saw him signaling to take a seat on one of the lounge chairs.

\- “I’ve been thinking. What you did that day, with that hacker, none of us could do. For situations like that, we usually rely on Toast or Bullwinkle, if their available. That’s when I realized that we could use someone like you on the team full-time.”

\- “Well, if you want, I can see if I know someone who’d be willing to work for 5-0 full-time. I know a lot of people who would jump at the opportunity of going legit.” – Summer said, already having a few names in mind.

\- “No, you misunderstood me. I want you on our team. I want you to come work with us. Your skills would be an immense asset to us. Most of the time you wouldn’t have to hack into anything, but if a case shows up that requires it, then you’d already be there and would save us a ton of time. Plus, you already know everybody and you’re Ohana to us, so it’s a no brainer, really.”

To say Summer was dumbstruck was an understatement. There Steve was, asking her to join 5-0, giving her a chance to put her skills to use on the greater good. She wanted to say yes so badly, but, still, she felt divided. She wasn’t sure she could do it.

Joining the team was a tricky situation. On one hand, she really wanted to. She would be able to help them save people and being able to spend more time with Steve and Danny was an added bonus. But on the other hand, joining meant that she would have to break her promise to Danny and that was the last thing she wanted. She decided that she needed to talk to Danny first before accepting or declining Steve’s offer.

\- “Look, Steve. I appreciate the offer, I really do, but… I have to talk to Danny first before giving you an answer. You know how he feels about me being a hacker, well, retired hacker, and about the promise I made him. I can’t just say yes without talking to him first. You understand, right?”

\- “Of course. Talk to him. See what he has to say and afterwards, no matter what you decide, let me know.” – Steve told her, a smile on his lips.

They gather their things and walked back to the house. Summer excused herself and went to the bathroom to change, their conversation replaying in her mind the whole time. She knew that it would be a hard sell to Danny, but she was really hoping that her brother would be okay with her joining the team.

After getting dressed, and before leaving the bathroom, she texted Danny saying she needed to see him and asking him to meet her at Kamekona’s in an hour’s time. Walking to the kitchen, she saw that Steve was already there, waiting for her. He passed her a bottle of water and they spend a few minutes just going over her surf lesson.

Summer left soon after, promising Steve that she would give him an answer later that day. She got into her car and drove to Kamekona’s. The whole way there, she kept rehearsing what she was going to say to Danny to try and convince him to accept the idea of her joining the team.

She got to Kamekona’s and, after parking the car, made her way to the tables. She saw that Danny was already there and walked over to him.

\- “Hey, sis. What’s going on?” – Danny asked her, hugging her before she took a seat in front of him.

\- “There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

\- “If this is about Steve’s offer, I already know and agree with Steve. Having you on the team has a lot more benefits than not having you.” – Summer was shocked. Could her brother really be okay with her going back to hacking, if they needed?

\- “Are you sure, Danny? I mean, I get that most of the time I wouldn’t have to hack into anything, but still…”

\- “I’m sure, Summer. Besides, it will be fun to work together and having you around.” – Danny smiled.

\- “If you’re sure, Danny. I just don’t want to do this and feel like I’m breaking my promise to you.”

\- “Summer, in the past you have had every opportunity to break that promise and you didn’t. And the only time you actually did was because I asked you too. I know what you’re capable of and I also know that you are the type of person who would do anything to help everyone around you. This gives you a chance to do just that. So, take the offer. I’m freeing you of your promise.” – Danny held her hand and smiled.

When Steve first talked to him about offering a place on the team to Summer, he had been adamant about not wanting her on the team. Not because he didn’t trust her, but because he didn’t want her to get hurt. But Steve had been very persuasive in telling him all the ways that Summer could help, without even leaving the office.

Basically, she would be their tech support, freeing Kono to spend more time on the field with them. She would also work directly with the lab and would do all the other things that they would usually do in the office, things that consumed time. Time they could’ve been spending in catching bad guys.

Danny knew Steve was right, no matter how much he hated to admit it to the man. That’s why he was giving Summer his blessing. She was an asset to the team, no matter how he looked at it. And as long as she stayed in the office, then he knew he could be okay with her being on the team.

Summer got up and hugged her brother, thanking him for trusting her and for being okay with her joining the team. They spent a few more minutes chit-chatting, before Danny had to leave to go pick up Grace for the weekend. Hugging him one last time, Summer said goodbye to Danny and saw him leave.

Picking up her phone, she dialed Steve’s number and waited for him to answer.

\- _“McGarrett.”_

\- “Hey, Steve. It’s Summer.”

\- _“Oh, hey. Is everything okay?”_

\- “Yeah, everything’s fine. Listen, about your offer…”

\- _“Yeah?”_

\- “I’d be honored to join 5-0 as the new tech analyst.”

\- _“That’s great, Summer. I take that the conversation with Danny went well, then.”_ – Steve had the biggest smile on his face.

\- “It did. And you could’ve told me that you had already spoken with him about it.”

\- _“I thought it would be better this way. So, when can you start?”_

\- “Well, I need to talk to my current boss about it. But, probably in a week or two. I’ll let you know with more certainty once I speak with him.”

\- _“Okay, perfect. It will give me time to have your badge and ID ready. By the way, how good are you with a gun?”_

\- “Average. Why?” – That caught her off-guard. If she was going to spend all her time in the office, why did she need a gun?

\- _“Just asking. Okay, listen, let me know when you can start, okay? I gotta run. I have a meeting with the Governor.”_

\- “Okay, no problem. Stay safe. Bye.”

\- _“You too. Bye.”_ – And with that, Summer heard him end the call.

Placing her phone back in her pocket, Summer took a moment to think about how her life was about to change. She was about to become a part of the 5-0 task force. It was something that she had never even imagined to be possible, let alone actually happen.

She started thinking back to that day, just a few weeks ago, when she did what she knew best. Helping the team save those kids, and arresting the hacker that had put them in danger in the first place, gave her this feeling of accomplishment. It felt good knowing she had helped them do that.

Summer knew she was making the right decision. Sure, their job wasn’t easy and they saw some pretty gruesome things almost on a daily basis, but she could handle that. Being the daughter of a firefighter and sister of a cop made her stronger than people gave her credit for. She couldn’t wait to start her new job.

However, soon, she would discover that this wasn’t the only change in her life. There was another one coming and this one had the possibility to ruin a lot of good things.


	7. The First Step

Six months have passed since Summer has joined 5-0. In those six months, she has helped them in numerous cases and even got to ride along with them on a few, much to Danny’s despair. If it was up to him, she would never leave the office.

But it wasn’t just her job that has changed. About five months ago, she started dating someone. He was kind, funny, protective, just and if her brother was to figure out who he was, then they would both be dead. That’s right, ladies and gentleman, Summer Williams was now dating Steve McGarrett. They had decided to not tell anyone just yet. Considering that Danny would either have a heart attack or kill them both and sink their bodies in the ocean, that was probably the best decision.

It started very innocently. Having coffee and malasadas before going to the office, grabbing lunch together at Kamekona’s, going out for a beer after work, nothing too serious. Until one day, when Steve finally gather enough courage to ask her something he had been wanting to ask her for a while.

It was after a long and boring day of paperwork when he caught up with her just outside the palace and before she got into her car.

\- “Hey Summer, hold up.”

\- “Please don’t tell me we caught a case.” – Summer said, almost whining, making him chuckle.

\- “No, nothing like that. You got a second?”

\- “Sure. What’s up?”

\- “So, I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with me. As in a date.” – Steve was nervous. After all, he didn’t know if she felt the same as he did. It could hurt their friendship if she didn’t, but he was willing to take that risk.

\- “Wait. Just to make sure I understood you correctly. You’re asking me out on a date?” – She was baffled, but smiled.

\- “Yes, I am. So… Will you go out with me on a date?”

\- “Yeah, I mean, I’d love too, Steve.” – She answered him, a big smile on her face.

They spent the next few minutes planning what was the best day for them to go on their date and both agreed that Friday was the best day since they would, hopefully, have the weekend off. After that was sorted out, they said their goodbyes and Summer got in her car and drove home.

She couldn’t believe it. Steve had asked her out. She felt giddy and happy and couldn’t wait for Friday to arrive. That’s when she thought about Danny. What would he say if he found out that she was going on a date with Steve? He would be pissed; she knew that much.

See, it wasn’t because it was Steve. Danny would have the same reaction no matter who it was. It was because he was in law-enforcement and a Navy Seal on top of that. Danny just didn’t want her to go through what their mother and his ex-wife had gone through with their dad and with him. The long hours, the not knowing if they were coming home, the fear that would course through them every time the phone rang. He just didn’t want that for her and she understood that. But she also understood that you have no control over who your heart chooses to fall for. “Shit! I fell for him. How did that happen?”, she thought, realization hitting her like a ton of bricks, as a smile appeared on her lips.

The week seemed to pass by at a slower pace than normal, making Summer more nervous than she should actually be. Soon, Friday had finally arrived and all throughout the day Summer couldn’t shake the nervous feeling she was having, anticipation running through her body. She was thankful that all they did all day was paperwork. She wasn’t sure she could focus on a case if they had one.

As soon as it was time to go home, Summer grabbed her things and made her way to her car, saying goodbye to everyone, anxious to get home so she could get ready. She had asked Steve if she should wear anything in particular and all he said was to wear something nice. She had no idea where he was taking her and she couldn’t wait to find out.

She got home and went straight to her closet. She still had time before he would pick her up, so she took that time to decide what to wear. She didn’t want to wear nothing too fancy, but at the same time she wanted to look good. Looking through her closet, it took a while before she found what she thought was the perfect dress for the occasion. It was a simple black dress, with a sweetheart neckline. The skirt was a full skater skirt just above the knee. It had a sexy v-back and a cold shoulder with short sleeves. It was a dress that, even thou it was simple, it always made her feel sexy.

After taking care of that, she hopped in the shower and took care of business. Once she was finished, she wrapped a towel around her body and another around her hair. She started applying her make-up, going for a natural look. Once that was done, she got dressed and took care of her hair. First, she dried it off with the blow-dryer. Using a flat iron, she then straightened her hair and placed a small hair pin on one side, pulling part of her hair away from her face. Finishing the look with a couple of ear studs and her favorite bracelet and she was ready to go.

Looking at the clock, she realized she had just under ten minutes until Steve arrived to pick her up. Grabbing a small purse from her closet, she placed her phone, wallet and badge inside, a habit she had picked up from Kono. Walking to the living room, she took one last look at herself on the hallway mirror, making sure everything looked perfect.

Summer heard her doorbell and she knew it was Steve. Taking a deep breath, she walked towards the door and opened it. Standing in front of her was a, very noticeably, nervous Steve, wearing a suit with a white button up shirt that had the top buttons unbuttoned, looking down at the floor. “God, he looks amazing.”, she thought, giving him a soft smile.

Steve looked up when he heard the door open and the sight before him left him speechless. There she was, standing in front of him, wearing a perfectly fitted black dress and that smile that he loved seeing every day.

\- “Hey. You look absolutely stunning.” – Steve said, not being able to say much more.

\- “Hey. Thanks. You look very handsome yourself.”

\- “Ready?” – He asked, offering her his arm.

\- “Ready.”

Steve lead her to his truck, opening the door on the passenger side and helping her get in. He hopped onto the driver’s side and drove away from her house. He had chosen Senia for them to have dinner. It was a place he knew they could have some privacy and it was somewhat romantic. The perfect place for a first date. The whole ride there, Steve couldn’t take his eyes from her. She looked beautiful and so peaceful. He, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck. He wanted the night to go flawlessly and that was what was making him nervous.

They parked the truck a block away from the restaurant, which worried Steve. She was wearing heels and he wasn’t sure how she would deal with having to walk a block in them. On the way there, with Summer on his arm, they talked about everything and anything they could think of. It seemed like they couldn’t run out of something to talk about and he loved that. He realized then that his worries around her wearing heels were unfounded. He was sure that, if needed, she could run on those things.

Once at the restaurant, the conversation flowed, along with the food and wine. They were laughing and just enjoying each other’s company. Summer felt on cloud nine and all nerves were left behind. Eventually, they had to call it a night. It was getting late and the staff wanted to close the restaurant.

The whole night Steve had been a complete gentleman and Summer knew that she shouldn’t had expecting anything less from him. She was happy and was hoping that this wasn’t just a one-time thing. She had spent the night thinking how she would love this night to never end.

Steve drove her back home and she hated the feeling of the night coming to an end. Once at her house, he helped her out of his truck and walked her to her door. That’s when he asked her if they could go out again. She immediately said yes.

That’s how it all began for them. From that night on they had gone on a second, third, fourth, fifth date until they both agreed that they were officially a couple. Well, almost. They were almost a couple because no one knew about them. It wasn’t because of the rest of the team. They knew they would be nothing but supportive. It was because of Danny.

They both knew that if Danny were to find out, he would either freak out and kill them or he would freak out and have a heart attack. Either way, he would freak out and they wanted to make sure where their relationship was going before telling anyone, specially Danny. They didn’t wanna tell Danny only to have to say to him that it didn’t work a week later. They loved each other but they also wanted to be sure.

And for the last five months, things looked like they were heading in the right direction. They would meet after work and on their day off, the surf lessons being the perfect cover for how much time they were spending together. No one suspected anything and both Steve and Summer were grateful for that.

They were coming up on six months of being together and were now starting to talk about the best way to tell Danny, when Steve had an unexpected visit. He was already running late to meet Summer for breakfast at their usual spot, when he opened the door and was frozen in place.

\- “Hi, Steve.” – They said, a smile on their lips, leaving Steve completely speechless.

In front of him was the last person he thought he would ever see again. Someone he had vowed to completely erase from both his mind and heart.

Across town, Summer was sitting on a booth, a cup of coffee in her hands, waiting for Steve to show up. He had called her a few minutes ago telling her that he was running late and that he was just about to leave the house. She knew if he didn’t hurry, they wouldn’t have time to have breakfast together before going to work. All Summer could do was wait and wait she did, until it was time to leave and go to work.

Walking towards her car, she called Steve, only for her call to go to voice mail. After a couple more tries, she got a text from him, saying that something had come up and that he would see her later. She was confused for a moment, but decided not to give much thought to it.

But, in hindsight, she should have had.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

             


	8. Blast From The Past

_\- “Hi, Steve.” – They said, a smile on their lips, leaving Steve completely speechless._

_In front of him was the last person he thought he would ever see again. Someone he had vowed to completely erase from both his mind and heart._

\- “Catherine?” – Steve couldn’t believe his eyes. It had been a couple of years since the last time he had seen her.

\- “Long time no see, sailor.”

\- “I could say the same thing. What are you doing here?”

\- “I moved back to the island. Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

\- “Sure, sorry. Come in.” – Steve said. Suddenly his phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, he saw that it was Summer. He hit the decline button, feeling guilty about standing her up. – “How long have you been back?”

\- “Not long. Just a couple of days. Just long enough to unpack and get settled in.”

\- “Sorry. Just give me a second.” – She was looking at his phone as it started ringing again. He quickly typed a message and turned his attention back towards her. – “How’ve you been?”

\- “Good. You?”

\- “Good.” – The awkwardness in the room was palpable. – “I gotta ask, Catherine. Why are you back?”

\- “You.”

\- “What?”

\- “You. You’re the reason why I’m back, Steve. I had a lot of time to think about it and to realize that I screwed up. You’re the only man I’ve ever truly loved. And I thought that maybe, just maybe, we could try again. I know I have no right to ask you but I still love you and I really would like to see where we could go.”

\- “Catherine, I… I don’t know what to tell you.”

\- “Just think about it. My number is still the same, so, call me whenever you want.” – Catherine kissed him on the cheek and walked out towards her car, leaving a confused Steve behind.

He knew he should have said that he was with Summer, that he was happy with her, but if he was being honest, seeing Catherine again brought back old feelings. Feelings he thought he had overcome and put behind him. She had had his heart for so many years and knowing that she was back on the island and that there was a chance that they could have a future together was confusing him.

He had fallen for Summer and he had fallen hard, but he wasn’t sure if what he felt for her was love or just longing. The longing of wanting someone by his side, of wanting to recapture what he had with Catherine. He knew none of this was fair to Summer and he knew that no matter what he decided, someone was gonna get hurt. He could only hope that, no matter what his decision was, it would be the right one.

Steve looked at his watch and realized he was beyond late for work. He locked the door behind him and got in his truck, making his way towards the palace. The conversation he just had with Catherine was replaying in his mind, every word she said, every word he should’ve said and didn’t. He needed time to sort this out, to sort his own feelings out.

Steve arrived at the palace and before he could walk into the building, he saw Danny walking out.

\- “Hey Danny.”

\- “Hey sleepy head. Glad you could join us. Come on, we got a case.”

\- “Okay.” – That’s all he said before getting behind the wheel of Danny’s Camaro.

\- “Alright. What’s going on with you?” – Danny asked, a few minutes later, while still in the car on their way to the latest crime scene.

\- “Nothing.”

\- “Nothing, right. You really expect me to believe that?”

\- “Danny, what do you want from me?”

\- “The truth would be nice. I mean, you show up late, which you never do, and you look like someone just broke your favorite grenade launcher, so… I ask again, what’s going on?”

\- “Catherine’s back on the island.”

\- “Whoa. Really?”

\- “Yes, really. She showed up at my place as I was leaving and that’s why I was late.”

\- “What did she want?” – As much as Danny didn’t want to, his hatred towards the woman was blatant in his voice. Every time she was in Steve’s life, it always ended up with him being broken hearted, leaving it up to Danny and the rest of the team to help him pick up the pieces.

\- “Do you really wanna know?”

\- “Yes, yes I do. Very much so.”

\- “She wants me back. She wants us to give it another try.”

\- “Please tell me you’re not seriously thinking about going for it, are you?”

\- “I don’t know Danny. I haven’t really thought about it.”

\- “There shouldn’t be anything to think about. Every time the two of you are together, it always ends up the same way: her leaving for another job or whatever and you being left behind with a broken heart. So, please, tell me, what is there to think about?”

\- “It’s not that simple Danny. We have a history together. And…”

\- “And?”

\- “And… Seeing her again brought back some old feelings.” – Steve knew Danny wouldn’t agree to this, for more than one reason. He wasn’t blind to the hatred that he felt against Catherine, but he knew that if he decided to be with her again, Danny would be supportive, no matter how much he didn’t agree with his decision.

\- “I don’t even wanna talk to you about this anymore. Just make sure you know what you’re doing. Make sure she isn’t just playing with you.”

\- “I will.” – That was the last time they talked about it.

The rest of the day was spent trying to solve their latest case. The only problem was he had to see Summer all day. It was hard for him to look at her and not be reminded of how much she loved him and how unfair it was for her the whole Catherine situation. That’s when he realized that he had already made his decision. Now, to tell her.

After work, he drove to her house. He knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but he owed it to himself to give his relationship with Catherine one last chance. He parked on her driveway and just sat there a few minutes, trying to think about how the best way would be to tell her, without hurting her too much. Realizing that there was no easy way to do this, he took a deep breath and got out of the truck.

Walking up the two steps by her front door, he knocked and prepared himself for what he thought would be the hardest talk he would ever have with her.

\- “Hey. I wasn’t expecting you.” – She greeted him, a small smile on her lips.

\- “Hey. I need to talk to you about something. You got a minute?”

\- “Sure. Come in.”

\- “Can we talk out here?” – He pointed to the front porch, hoping she wouldn’t object.

\- “Okay. What’s going on?”

\- “Summer, there’s something I need to tell you but, honestly, I have no idea how or where even to start.”

\- “You don’t have too. I know what you’re here to tell me.” – She knew exactly why he was there. The minute she found out that Catherine was back, she knew it was only a matter of time for this conversation to happen. She knew all about his relationship with Catherine, through both Danny and Steve himself.

\- “Summer, I…”

\- “Don’t, okay? Just… Don’t. I get it. You have history with her and you probably feel like you owe it to yourself and to her to give it one last try. I get it, but just because I get it, it doesn’t mean it hurts any less.” – Summer had tears in her eyes and it killed him to know that he was the one responsible for them.

\- "Summer, I'm so sorry."  
  
\- "I know. I just wish things were different. I understand why you would do this, even if it hurts like hell. I can only hope that she doesn't hurt you like she did before. Just be sure that she's as invested as you are, Steve. That's all." - She said and turned away, walking back into the house.  
  
\- "Summer, wait..."  
  
Steve saw the door close behind her and he felt as if someone had just punch him in the stomach. The look of pain in her eyes made him physically hurt and he was sure that it would take a long time, if ever, for her to forgive him. He wasn't sure if he could ever forgive himself for putting her through that. He walked back to his truck and drove away, the pain in her eyes still very much present in his mind.  
  
On the other side of the door, Summer was sitting on the floor, her back leaning against it, tears running down her face. She heard him asking her to wait right before she close the door, but she couldn't. If she had, she knew she would just breakdown in front of him and that's the last thing she wanted.  
  
She saw this coming. When Danny commented, by accident, during lunch that Catherine was back on the island, she knew. She understood why he had stood her up that morning and why he had been acting somewhat withdrawn with her during the day. Summer figured that this was gonna happen sooner or later, she just didn't expect it would happen on the same day. "I guess he loves her more than he ever loved me.", she thought, tears free falling.  
  
Eventually, Summer got up and moved to the couch, curling up in one of the corners and wrapping herself in a blanket. She started remembering all the good times they had together: their first date; when they decided they were a couple; the silly arguments; the plans to tell Danny; and everything in between. She cried, almost as if she was grieving. But in a way, she was. She was grieving the loss of an amazing relationship and the loss of the man she loved.  
  
Summer ended up crying herself to sleep, waking up a few hours later. Getting up from the couch, she walked to the bathroom. Turning the light on, she stood in front of the mirror and took a good look at herself. In front of her was someone she didn't recognize. Her eyes were red from all the crying, her lips chapped, her hair was a mess and she had a headache that was on the verge of killing her. Stripping down, she turned the shower on and jumped in. The hot water hit her body and, after a while, she felt her body finally starting to relax.  
  
Even though her body was relaxing, her mind was not. Her brain kept replaying the conversation she had earlier with Steve and slowly but surely, instead of feeling hurt or in pain over it, she began feeling angry. Why did he do that? Why would he choose Catherine over her? She couldn't hold on any longer. Summer let out a scream, letting go of all the pain, hurt and anger, all in one go. She was mostly angry at herself for allowing herself to be put in that position. Afterwards, she felt relieved.  
  
She turned the water off and wrapped herself on a towel. That's when a thought came to her mind. "What will happen tomorrow?", she thought. She had to keep seeing him every day, since she was working with 5-0 now. Will he fire her? Or will he become distant with her to the point where they can't work together? She didn't know. Either way, she was gonna do what she did best: bury her feelings and pretend everything was fine. She knew it would take time before she could say that she was okay without it being a lie.


	9. Dead Or Alive?

It’s funny how time flies by. Days turn into weeks, weeks into months, and before you know it, things that had hurt you once, can’t hurt you anymore. That was Summer’s belief when she woke up that day, feeling better than she had been since her relationship with Steve ended.

Summer woke up, got out of bed and got ready for another day of crime fighting. The last few months were rough, having to see Steve every day, plus seeing him with Catherine, it wasn’t easy. More times than she would like to admit she had thought about quitting 5-0, but she didn’t. She wasn’t gonna let her feelings for Steve get in the way of her doing her job.

While driving to the palace to start her day, she got a call from Danny.

\- “Go for Summer.”

\- _“Summer, we just got a tip that a gun deal is about to happen in a parking lot downtown. How far away are you from the office?”_

\- “I’m three minutes out. Just around the corner.”

\- _“Okay. We’ll meet you out front. Bye.”_

\- “Okay. Bye.”

Summer pulled up to the palace and the team was already outside, in full tactical gear, getting ready to move out. Getting out of the car, she noticed that Catherine was there as well, getting ready with the rest of team. Brushing it off, she walked over to them.

\- “What do you need?”

\- “Check the cameras around the parking lot and run background checks on everyone that goes in and out, starting from the last twelve hours.” – Steve told her.

\- “Got it. I’ll let you know if I find anything. Stay safe you guys.” – And with that she rushed to the office.

Summer started going through the footage of every camera she could find that had a view of the multiple entrances of the structure, only to come up empty. “Something’s not right. There should be something here.”, she thought, “If a deal is going down, where are the vans with the guns? Where are the bad guys? There’s something wrong with this.”

She had been hearing them through her earpiece and just as she’s about to tell them that there was something wrong with the info they had gotten, she heard Steve yell “Bomb! Bomb!”. And that was the last thing she heard from them before the loud bang of something coming crashing down hit her like a wave.

It took Summer a few seconds to realize what had just happened, but when she did, she panicked.

\- “Danny, Steve. Come in. Danny, Steve. Is anybody listening?”

\- _“Summer, do you have a twenty on Danny and Steve?”_ – Lou asked, amidst coughing and confusion on his end.

\- “No, Lou. They’re not answering their coms. Where’s everyone else? Are you okay?”

\- _“I’m okay. Kono, Chin and Catherine are all safe. A bit banged up, but alive.”_

\- “Okay, good. Any word on my brother and Steve?”

\- _“No, nothing. Summer, I’m pretty sure they’re trapped under the rubble.”_ – The thought of her brother and Steve being trapped under tons of debris made her panic. She knew that Danny couldn’t be handling the situation very well, considering his claustrophobia. And this was if they were even alive. “No, you can’t think like that. They’re alive. They have to be alive.”, she berated herself for thinking like that.

Meanwhile, under the rubble.

\- “Danny. Danny.” – Steve yells, frantically.

\- “Hey.”

\- “I got you, buddy. I'm right here. I got you.”

\- “My leg's pinned. I think I broke a rib. Where's the other guy? Huh?”

\- “He's dead. Okay, listen to me, this thing's too heavy. I can't lift it. I got no cell service down here, so I can't call for help.”

\- “Okay.”

\- “I'm gonna go get something to give me some leverage, get this off your leg, okay? I'll be right back.”

\- “Alright. Whoa-whoa-whoa. Don't go just yet.” – Danny says, his voice shaking.

\- “Danny, relax, it's gonna be okay.”

\- “Is it okay? 'Cause I'm in a confined space with a bunch of concrete on top of me, and given my present condition, that's not the best situation for me. You know what I mean?”

\- “Right, right, right. Claustrophobia.”

\- “Yeah.”

\- “Okay. Take a deep breath, okay?”

\- “No, that's no good. It makes it worse.” – Danny said, letting a shaky breath out.

\- “Danny, I got to get this off you. You understand me?”

\- “Alright, alright, okay. Alright, Carter's behind the plate. We got Santana Hey, hey, hey. Hernandez. Hernandez playing first. Backman's playing second base.”

\- “What are you doing?”

\- “Helps me relax. I just recite the '86 Mets lineup. It helps me relax.”

\- “Oh, that's great. That's good. No, that's good. I'll be back, alright?”

\- “Okay. Santana's playing shortstop.”

Steve knew he had to work fast to take that pillar off of Danny’s leg. He was sure that his team was trying to find a way to get them out of there, so all he could do was trust them to do just that. Right now he needed to focus on keeping Danny calm. But then he remembered that Summer was listening in when everything happened. “She must be freaking out right now.”, he thought, “If only there was some way to let her know that we’re okay.”

The thought of Summer being worried about them and freaking out, made his heart hurt. All he wanted was to be able to put his arms around her and tell her that they were okay, that everything was going to be okay. He realized then what he had done. He had left someone who truly loved him for someone who wasn’t that invested in their relationship.

Even thou from the outside his relationship with Catherine seemed to be going great, the truth was far different. At first things were great, with them making up for lost time, but, as time progressed, he started to notice that things were different. He no longer yearned to go home and be with her, or to spend as much time as possible with her. Quite the opposite. The longer he could stay at work, the happier he was. When he would eventually go home, they would spend the night doing their own thing, never something together.

Steve made his way back to Danny and began freeing him from under the concrete pillar. After a while, he managed to do it. He noticed that Danny had a nasty wound on his lower side. Steve quickly took care of that and told Danny to just relax. Sitting next to him, he became quiet, thinking about Summer and how worried and scared she must be, not knowing if they’re alive or not.

\- “What’s on your mind?” – Danny asked him, pulling him out of his thoughts.

\- “Nothing.”

\- “Come on. Spill.”

\- “You really wanna know?” – Steve wasn’t sure he should tell Danny the truth about his thoughts, but in that moment he didn’t care.

\- “Yes, please. It will keep me distracted from the tomb we’re trapped in.”

\- “I screwed up, Danny. Big time.”

\- “Listen, this isn’t your fault, no matter how much I want it to be.” – Danny had that sarcastic smirk of his plastered on his face and Steve couldn’t help but chuckle at his friend.

\- “Not about this, smartass.” – He said, pointing up at the debris above them.

\- “Then what? Summer? ‘Cause if you’re talking about her, then yeah, you screwed up, big time.” – Steve was shocked. How did Danny know? There was no way he could’ve find out, at least he didn’t think so.

\- “How did you…”

\- “Steve, that’s my sister. Do you really think I wouldn’t know? Of course I knew. All of a sudden she was happier, going on secret dates and spending all that time with you and your ‘surf lessons’, not to mention the looks you would give each other. I’m not blind.”

\- “Danny, I-I…”

\- “Look. I get why Summer didn’t tell me. If there was one thing I always told her about dating was that I didn’t want her to date anyone in law-enforcement or any branch of the military. Not because I don’t respect them or anything like that. It was just because I didn’t want her to go through the same things our mother and Rachel went through with our dad and myself. But, with that said, if she was going to fall for a cop or a military guy, and as much as I hate to admit it, I’m glad it was you.”

\- “Thanks, Danno. I appreciate that.”

\- “Yeah, yeah, don’t make me regret it.” – Danny chuckled.

\- “I’m pretty sure that Summer hates me right now. I blew it, Danny.”

\- “Listen, I know my sister. She’s hurt, which is understandable, but she doesn’t hate you. It might take some time but she’ll come around. You just have to show her that you’re serious about your feelings towards her.”

\- “Let’s hope you’re right. I really do love her, Danny. She makes me want to be better. I know I hurt her when I chose Catherine and I know that there’s nothing I can say or do to change that, but I can’t live without her. I truly love her. And nothing is going to change that.”

They stayed silent for a while, both contemplating what Steve being with Summer meant for both of them. Suddenly, Steve’s phone began to ring. He quickly pulled it out from his vest and answered the call that he was receiving.

\- “It’s Summer.” – Steve said before answering the call. – “Summer.”

\- _“Steve, thank God. Are you guys alright?”_

\- “Yeah, Danny’s slightly banged up, but we’re okay. Everybody else got out?”

\- _“All accounted for except you two stragglers. We got the whole cavalry up here working to get you guys out.”_ – Lou answered, letting him know that they were in fact okay.

\- “Great. We got an ETA on that? I'm literally being held together by duct tape.” – They heard Danny say.

\- _“Yeah, we're working on it. We need to know your exact location.”_ – Catherine said, before Summer could.

\- “We're in the maintenance room, south side of the garage.”

\- _“Got it.”_ – With this new information, Lou walked away to inform the fire marshal of their exact location.

It took a while, but eventually they were out. By the time they were pulled from the debris, Summer was already there, along with Melissa and Grace. She could tell that Catherine wasn’t happy to see her there but she couldn’t really say anything since Summer was Danny’s sister as well as part of 5-0, much to her grievance.

As soon as she saw Danny, Summer ran to him, hugging him tight. Taking a step back, she let Melissa and Grace hug him as well before leading him towards one of the ambulances so he could get proper medical care for his wounds. Over Danny’s shoulder, she saw Steve being pulled out and Catherine quickly wrapping her arms around him. She looked away the minute she realized they were going to kiss.

Danny saw the expression in his sister’s face and felt bad for her. That’s when he truly saw how much she loved Steve and how much it had hurt her when he chose Catherine over her. Tugging on her arm, he pulled her with him to the ambulance, in an attempt to get her away from them, so she wouldn’t get hurt even more.

Steve had just gotten to the top of the debris when he saw Summer by Danny’s side, but before he could do anything about it, Catherine had her arms around him and was about to kiss him. Steve wasn’t going to do that there and ended up pushing her away gently. Catherine looked confused but all he could say at the moment was that they would talk later.

Making his way to where Danny was, followed by everyone else, he checked up on him before leaving to find the person responsible for the trap that had been laid out for them. A quick nod towards Summer, receiving one in return, was all the communication that happened between them. Still, he saw the relief in her eyes to see him in one piece.

He knew that eventually he would have to talk to her, but right now he needed to make sure that what had happened that day, didn’t happen again.


	10. What The Heart Wants

Steve walked into his house to find Catherine sitting on the couch waiting for him. He could see she was upset and he knew exactly why. It was time he talked to her, and he wished he didn't have to, he wished he could just take a shower and put this God forsaken day behind him, but he had to talk to her.

He sat down on the couch next to her and sighed. She looked over at him and he knew this wasn't going to be easy.

\- "Why did you push me away? I don't understand."

\- "Catherine, listen..."

\- "It's because of her, isn't it? Danny's sister, Summer?"

\- "Catherine, look. While I was down there I had time to think. And I have to be honest with you, I can't keep doing this. I can't keep pretending that everything is okay when it isn't."

\- "I admit that things have been different the last few weeks but it's normal, Steve. I mean, we're different."

\- "I get that Catherine, I really do, but the truth is that, what I thought I felt for you wasn't real. I thought I still loved you when in reality I loved the idea of you. I got confused and what I thought was love, was in fact longing, for the past, for what we had. Being trapped down there gave me perspective. I'm sorry, Catherine, I really am."

\- "So what? What are you saying?"

\- "I'm saying that it's over, Catherine. I'm sorry, but I can't be with someone I don't love."

\- "And you love her? You don't know if you love her. You love the chase, the forbidden fruit, Steve, and that's exactly what she is. She's Danny's sister and that makes it forbidden. That's why you think you love her. Nothing else." – She was pissed, he could tell.

\- "You're wrong, Catherine. I love her. It might have taken a while to see it, but now I know for sure how I feel for her. Choosing you over her was a mistake to begin with, I see it now. And I'm not going to make that mistake twice. I'm sorry Catherine but we're done. It's over."

\- "Fine. Whatever. Just don't come crawling back to me when you realize I was right all along." – And with that, she stormed out.

Steve closed his eyes and sighed, leaning his head back, wishing things could've gone differently. He wished they could've remain friends, but he was now seeing that that was impossible. He still cared about her, but only as a friend. He was sure that with time she will come to realize that this was for the best. And if she doesn't, well, as long as she doesn't try to get in between him and Summer, then it's all good.

Summer. There's another talk he had yet to have. "Might as well do it while I still can", he thought. He got up and made his way out of the house and back into his truck. Looking at the rearview mirror, it was then that he really saw how he looked. Concrete dust covered his hair and clothes, a few scratches on his face and a cut on his upper lip. He didn't care. He knew that that conversation was more important than the way he looked.

After driving for a while, he finally arrived at her house. Taking a deep breath, he stepped out of his truck and walked up to her door. He felt nervous, his hand slightly shaking when he rang the doorbell. "Here goes nothing.", he thought just as she opened the door.

Summer could hardly believe the sight in front of her. There Steve stood, covered in dust, battered and slightly bruised.

\- "Steve? What's wrong?"

\- "Nothing's wrong. You got a minute? I need to talk to you."

\- "Sure. Come in. Are you okay?"

\- "I'm okay, Summer." – He smiled. - "Can we talk out here?"

\- "Okay, Steve, what's going on? You're starting to freak me out." – She was expecting him to be at the hospital getting checked out or at least at home, resting. Not standing on her doorstep.

\- "Just hear me out to the end, please. Is that okay?"

\- "Okay."

\- "Okay, so... I have made plenty of mistakes in my life. But so far, none as big as the one I made a few months ago. Leaving you, choosing Catherine over you, that has to be the biggest one so far.”

“Here I was in a relationship with someone who truly loved me and I threw it away and for what? For someone who I thought I loved. You were right, Summer. Only, it wasn't just her that wasn't fully invested in the relationship. I wasn't either. And it only took me having a building dropped on my head to fully realize that.”

“Look, I know that I probably don't deserve a second chance but if by any chance you were to give me that, I swear to you I will do everything in my power to prove to you that I really love you and I will spend every waking moment making it up to you. I'm so sorry, Summer, for everything that I put you through and for how much I hurt you. I love you." – Steve felt winded, like he had just finished running a marathon, but he needed to let Summer know how he felt, how sorry he was for hurting her.

Summer didn’t know what to say. There he was, telling her exactly what she wanted to hear, and yet, she wasn’t sure she was ready to be with him again. She still felt hurt over what he had done. It took all of her strength to bury her feelings for him and now he was telling her he wanted her back. Could it really be that simple?

\- “Steve, I… I don’t know what to say here. Look, I’m not saying I don’t have feelings for you, but… You hurt me when you decided to choose Catherine. After everything that happened, I don’t know if I can put myself in a position where I might get my heart broken again.”

\- “I understand. But I promise you, Summer, I will never hurt again. Now I’m sure that you’re the one I wanna be with. No reservations, no doubts. You’re the one for me.”

\- “I don’t know, Steve. Listen, just, let me think about this. A lot has happened today and I think we both need some time to process everything. I promise, as soon as I come to a decision, I’ll let you know. Is that okay?”

\- “Of course. Take as much time as you need. I’ll be here. I’m not going anywhere. Oh, just one more thing I think you should know. Danny knows. He has known since the beginning, apparently.” – Steve said, a small smile on his lips.

\- “Of course he did. I swear, that man is going to be the death of me.” – She couldn’t help but chuckle. Of course her brother knew. But what surprised her was the fact that he didn’t say anything, to either of them.

Steve didn’t say anything else, he simply kissed her cheek and walked away. Summer saw him get in his truck and drive away. Now she was faced with a dilemma. Should she give him a second chance or should she just reject the idea and stick to being coworkers?

Summer went back inside, grabbed a glass of wine from the kitchen and sat on her back porch, the events of the day replaying in her mind. She nearly lost her brother and Steve and in that moment she would have given anything to have them both safe and sound and for her to be the one buried under that collapsed building. And now, Steve was telling her how he had made a mistake with Catherine and how much he loved her.

She had to admit. She still loved him, dearly, but she wasn’t sure she should just give him a second chance and forget everything that happened up until that moment. But on the other hand, she really wanted to be with him. Yes, he had hurt her but it was for what he had thought was a good reason. And at the time she understood where he was coming from. If it was her, she would’ve probably made the same decision. With that said, it didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt when he chose Catherine over her.

She was confused and she knew exactly who she could turn to for advice.

\- _“Williams”_

\- “Hey Danno. It’s me.”

\- _“Hey sis. Everything okay?”_

\- “Yeah. Listen, I need to talk to you. I need some advice. I know it has been a long day, but I was wondering if I could come over, maybe even bring dinner with me?”

\- _“As long as you’re bringing pizza, then feel free to drop in.”_

\- “Deal. I’ll be there, say, in an hour?”

\- _“Sounds good to me. I’ll let Mel know that you’re coming and bringing dinner.”_

\- “Okay. I’ll see you in an hour. Love ya. Bye.”

\- _“Love you too. Bye.”_

And with that, Summer hung up the call and made her way to her bedroom, to shower and change. Thirty minutes later and she was ready and walking out the door to her car. She drove to her favorite pizza place and picked up dinner. Then it was just another fifteen minutes’ car ride to her brother’s house.

She knocked and Grace was the one who answered. After the usual greetings and teasing that always occurred when Summer went over, they all set the table and ate dinner together. It was clear they were avoiding to talk about what had happened earlier and she was grateful for that. She hated to imagine what her brother and Steve must’ve felt while under all that rubble.

Eventually, dinner was over and it was time she talked with Danny. Grace had gone to her room to do her homework and Melissa was doing the dishes, so Danny grabbed two beers and lead her to his backyard. Sitting in the patio chairs, they stayed silent for some time, while Summer collected her thoughts. Danny was the first to speak.

\- “So, what do you wanted to talk about?”

\- “Steve came over the house earlier.”

\- “Oh, is that so? What did he want? Worried about the paperwork?” – Danny had an evil smirk on his lips.

\- “You can stop right there. He told me you know.” – She said, chuckling at her brother’s attempt to play clueless.

\- “For a Navy Seal he sure has loose lips.”

\- “Funny.”

\- “Seriously now, what did he say?”

\- “That he ended things with Catherine…”

\- “About time if you ask me.” – He said, interrupting her. She just lifted her eyebrow at him, which he responded by lifting his hands in surrender. – “Sorry. What else?”

\- “That he knew now that he had made a mistake and that… That he wanted a second chance, even thou he knew he didn’t deserve it and that he loves me. That’s pretty much it, in broad lines.”

\- “And what did you say?”

\- “That I needed time to think. To be honest, I don’t know what to do. On one hand, I want to be back with him. But on the other, I’m scared that if we get back together he will just hurt me again.”

\- “I get it. Listen, I don’t know if it will help or not, but while we were down there, his thoughts were with you. Sure, he was focused on getting us out of there, but he couldn’t stop thinking about you. He knows he screwed up, he told me that much. He knows how much he has hurt you and he knows that there’s nothing he can say or do to change that. Now is up to you. Are you ready to get back in a relationship with him?”

\- “Truthfully? I don’t think I am. It still feels very fresh, you know? Not just the break-up, but seeing him with her as well. I don’t think I can be with him right now without having the image of him with her in the back of my mind.”

\- “It sounds like you know what to do, sis. Just give it time and when you’re both ready, you can try again. Look, no matter what you decide, I got your back, okay?”

\- “Thanks, Danno. I appreciate that.”

\- “Anytime, sis.”

And with that, Summer knew exactly what to do. Excusing herself, she walked to the far end of the yard and grabbed her phone from her back pocket.

\- _“McGarrett.”_

\- “Hey, it’s Summer.”

\- _“Hey. Is everything okay? Are you okay?”_

\- “I’m fine, Steve. I was wondering if I could come over in a little bit. I need to talk to you.”

\- _“Sure. Come over whenever you want. I’ll be here.”_

\- “Okay, I’ll see you in a few. Bye.”

\- _“Sounds good. Bye.”_

Summer walked back towards where her brother was still sitting, this time with Melissa by his side. She placed the empty beer bottle on the table and told them she had to go. Kissing her brother’s cheek as well as Melissa’s, she said her goodbyes and walked out to her car.

She had no idea how she was going to tell him but she needed to be honest with him. As she drove to his house, she became even more sure that this was what she needed to do. It didn’t mean that they couldn’t try again in the future, just not right now.

Summer parked her car in his driveway and walked out, heading for the door. Taking a deep breath, she knocked and waited. For some reason she was nervous. The door opened and when she looked up, Steve was standing there, a kind smile on his face.

\- “Hey.”

\- “Hey.”

\- “Come in. Or do you want to talk out here?”

\- “Out here is fine, if that’s okay.”

\- “Sure. If it makes you more comfortable.” – He could see she was nervous.

\- “So, I thought about our talk earlier.”

\- “Okay.”

\- “Here’s the thing. I’m not gonna lie to you and say that I don’t love you anymore, because I still do, very much so. But, I don’t think I can be with you. At least, not right now. You literally just ended things with Catherine and I’m not ready to be in a relationship with you just yet. I’m not saying that it will never happen, I’m just saying that it’s too soon.”

\- “I get it. And I don’t wanna push you to do anything you’re not comfortable with. But I have to ask. Where does that leaves us?”

\- “I think that, for now, we should just remain friends. Maybe start over. I know it’s not ideal, or what you were probably expecting but that’s what I think is best. I’m not saying that we are never getting back together, I’m just saying that not right now. Is that okay with you?”

\- “Summer, I love you, you know that. And I knew it was a long shot that you would even agree to stay friends with me, let alone give me a second chance. So, if I get to have you in my life as my friend, I’ll take it. I’d rather have you in my life as my friend than not having you in my life at all. With that said, friends it is.” – Steve smiled. He knew it wouldn’t be easy, but at least he still had her in his life. He will wait for her, no matter how long it takes.

\- “Thank you, Steve. I really appreciate it. And who knows? Maybe one day, we can try again.”

\- “I’m not going anywhere, Summer.” – He walked up to her and hugged her, letting her know that he was okay with her decision.

They stood in each other’s embrace for a little while, before Summer took a step back and said goodnight. He watched her walk to her car, getting on and drive off. Steve had to admit that he was hoping that she would give him a second chance, but he was happy that at least she was willing to be his friend.

Since he went back to Catherine, that he and Summer had gone from being together to just being coworkers, no longer laughing together at inside jokes or just hanging out. They even stopped with their surf lessons, because it made Summer uncomfortable. So, he thanked God that he could now have a chance to try and rebuild their relationship. Granted, it was starting from the ground up but, hey, at least it was something.

Now, he needed to focus on showing Summer that he meant it when he said that he would do anything to make it up to her. That was his mission now. No matter how long it took.


	11. Please, God

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, my lovelies.  
> Just a little heads up, this will be a long one, but totally worth it. Promise.  
> Let me know what you think.  
> Love y'all.  
> Annie

Another day, another case, another pile of paperwork. For Summer, it felt like the past two years have been a repetition of the same thing over and over again. Don’t get her wrong, she loves her job, well, aside from the paperwork. Still, for the last two years not much has changed. She's still working with 5-0, her brother still freaks out when she has to go on the field, the team is still ohana to her and she's still just friends with Steve.

After their conversation, where he asked her for a second chance and she kindly refused, they had been building their friendship back up. It was awkward in the beginning, with them trying to get back to where they were before, but with time, eventually, they got there. And now it felt like things had never changed.

But, even thou things between Steve and Summer were great, the same couldn't be said for Steve. For a while now that he had been fighting an old enemy. An enemy that stayed, for the most part, in the shadows, but whom he knew very well. His name? Wo Fat.

Steve was driving himself crazy, he knew it, but when there were threats being made against every member of his team, including Summer, he didn't care. He needed to find and stop him before he followed through on his threats. In hindsight, he should've guessed that Wo Fat would come after the one he cared about the most, but hindsight is always 20/20 in situations like these.

Summer had just pulled out of her driveway on her way to the palace when she noticed the black SUV following her. At first she didn't give it much thought, assuming it must've been someone who was lost and trying to find a way downtown. But when she saw that the car didn't had plates on, she knew something was wrong. Taking a few consecutive left turns, she saw the SUV showing up behind her every time. She decided that she needed to let someone know what was going on, just in case.

\- _"McGarrett."_

\- "Hey, it's me. I think I might be in trouble."

\- _"What's wrong?"_ \- She could hear the concern in his voice.

\- "I got a tail and I can't shake it off."

\- _"Where are you?"_

\- "Getting to Tusitala Street, near the Waikiki Lei Apartments."

\- _"I'm on my way. Stay with me. What can you tell me about them?"_

\- "Black SUV, no plates, at least two men inside, might be asi..."

Just as Summer is about to give him the description of the two men, a loud crashing sound was heard through the speaker of his phone. Both Steve and Danny could hear the sound of metal hitting metal, glass shattering and a women screaming, all the while they were calling out to her. Summer was screaming. That sound was more terrifying than all the others put together. And then abruptly the call ended.

Steve drove as fast as he possible could, but by the time he got to Summer's last location, it was too late. She was already gone. The sight before him made his stomach turn and he knew Danny wasn't much better. Her car was on the side of the road, the back door on the driver's side completely pushed in, the windows on that side both shattered as well as the rearview window. And then there was the one thing that neither of them wanted to see: blood. There was blood on the steering wheel and a trail that went away from her car and then stopped abruptly. She was taken.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_A few minutes before…_

Summer heard it before she felt it. The screeching of tires, an engine revving and then the hit. The SUV hit her side of the car and she heard the windows on that side shattering. The force was immense, making her car hit a parked car, stopping abruptly. Bashing her head in the steering wheel, she immediately felt the blood dripping and a dizziness overcoming her.

She heard quick footsteps approaching and prying her door open. Two sets of hands pulled her out and she knew she needed to fight. She tried getting loose from her kidnappers, but they were strong. That didn’t mean that she couldn’t do some damage.

Kicking one in the knee, making him buckle, she got one arm free, launching it, with a closed fist, at the second man. She felt it connect with his nose and the grip on her arm loosen slightly. With a sharp movement, she freed her restrained arm and started running, only to be stopped by a third man she didn’t even knew was there. He grabbed her by her hair and pulled her back. A scream left her throat and she collided with his chest. Suddenly, everything went black.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She woke up in a small room, what felt like hours after, the only light coming from a small window behind her. The place was hot, a lot hotter than it should be and she was already feeling the effects of the room. Her head hurt, she had dark spots in her vision and was feeling nauseous, not to mention she was parched. “Great, a concussion and possibly dehydration. That’s all I needed right now.”, she thought while looking around, trying to find a way out.

She was alone in the room, securely bound to the chair she was sitting in, in the middle of the room. Next to her was a table, with something hidden under a large piece of cloth. She didn’t wanna think what was under there. She tried remembering how she got there but all she remembered was being hit from behind when she collided with the third guy’s chest. “The butt of his gun, it had to be.”, she pieced together.

She kept looking around, dread filling her as she realized she had no escape possible. If she was being honest, she was terrified, but she wasn’t going to let anyone know, specially whoever it was that took her. Suddenly, the door in front of her opened.

Standing in front of her was a well-dressed man, wearing a buttoned up shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, a suit vest and matching pants. She knew he looked familiar but she couldn’t quite place him, mostly because his face was somewhat hiding in the shadows. He walked closer to her and when she saw his face more clearly in the light she knew who he was. Wo Fat. “Well, shit. Now I’m really screwed.”, she thought.

\- “Hello, Miss Williams. Do you know who I am?”

\- “Should I?”

\- “Well, considering your boyfriend is after me, I should assume you do.”

\- “I don’t know where you’re getting your info from but I don’t have a boyfriend, so I think you got the wrong girl. How about you let me go and we forget this ever happened?” – She gave him her best smile, hoping he wouldn’t see how scared she was.

\- “Nice try. See, I know you and Commander McGarrett are together.”

\- “Well, now I know you have the wrong info. McGarrett is my boss, not my boyfriend.”

\- “Really? Well, that’s unfortunate. For you at least.”

\- “What do you want?”

\- “Just the pleasure of hurting someone he cares about.”

Summer watched him walk over to the table and pull the cloth to the side. What was under it made her shiver. There, laying on the table and glinting under the dim light of the room, was a row of objects that were meant to hurt her. He picked up a knife and walked over to her. “Shit, this is gonna hurt.”, she thought as he approached.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

_In the Palace…_

\- “Any leads?” – Danny asked Kono, who was typing furiously.

\- “I just got the footage from a traffic camera on Ala Wai Blvd. I was about to go through it.”

\- “Play it.” – Steve said.

The image showed Summer’s car, her black Impala, coming down the road and a black SUV right behind her. Just like she had said, the SUV didn’t have plates on. But as they got closer to the camera, they could see the driver and the front passenger. Kono quickly took a screen-print of their faces and ran it through their database.

While that was doing they kept watching the footage until they lost sight of them.

\- “This must’ve been when she went through Tusitala Street.” – Chin pointed out.

Steve was about to agree when he noticed Danny wasn’t by his side. Looking over, he saw him in his office, his head in his hands. He knew that Danny was having a hard time, hell, even he was having trouble focusing on anything other than how Summer was. He had to talk to Danny.

Excusing himself, he walked over to Danny’s office, knocking on the door but going in before getting an answer from Danny.

\- “We’re gonna find her Danny.”

\- “How did this happened? She takes different routes to work every day. I told her to do that. How did this happen?”

\- “I don’t know. What I do know is that Summer is tough and smart. We’ll find her Danny.”

\- “We better. I don’t wanna have to tell my mother that I let my baby sister get kidnapped and killed.” – Danny had tears in his eyes. He loved his baby sister more than anything and Steve knew that if anything were to happen to Summer, it would kill Danny.

\- “Stop. Right now. We’ll find her. Alive. Do you hear me?”

Danny nodded. That was all Steve got out of him before Lou knocked on the door.

\- “We got something.” – Lou said, cracking the door open. Steve and Danny rushed out Danny’s office, following Lou back to where the rest of the team was.

\- “What do we got?” – Steve asked, hungry for something that could tell them where she was or who had taken her.

\- “Facial recognition is still running, but we got the results back from the blood on and by Summer’s car.”

\- “Okay?”

\- “The blood on the steering wheel is hers, but that was to be expected considering the way her car was. However, the blood trail isn’t hers. It’s male and we got a hit on CODIS. Meet Pao Dan.”

\- “Wait, I know him. He’s one of Wo Fat’s henchmen.” – Chin pointed out. Steve felt a wave of guilt flood over him when he realized who the man was. He walked away, not being able to face Danny or the others in that moment.

It was safe to say that Summer’s kidnapping was because of him. It was also safe to say that the other man in the car had to be one of Wo Fat’s henchmen. Steve tried staying calm, but he was having a hard time controlling himself. “This is my fault. She was taken because of me.”, Steve thought, pacing around in his office. Stopping suddenly, he cleared his desk in one movement, anger and guilt taking over. “How did I let this happen? She has nothing to do with this. Why her?”, then it hit him. Wo Fat must’ve figured out that they had once been together and he probably thought they still were.

Steve sat on the couch, his head in his hands, trying to get his emotions under control, when his door opened.

\- “It’s not your fault, Steve.” – Danny told him, walking in and leaning against Steve’s desk. As much as he wanted to blame the man, Danny knew that it really wasn’t his fault. Wo Fat could’ve come after any of them to get to him, it just happened to be Summer. No, it wasn’t his fault. It was Wo Fat’s.

\- “That’s the thing Danny, it is. It is my fault. If I had just left Shelburne alone, he wouldn’t have come back and Summer wouldn’t have been taken. I’m sorry Danny. I truly am.” – Danny never had seen Steve like that. The man was openly crying.

\- “Listen to me. If it hadn’t been because of Shelburne, it would’ve been for something else. Wo Fat is a prick, and an even bigger s.o.b., who takes pleasure in making other people hurt. Don’t be sorry. Be Steve. Focus on finding my sister and if after you still feel like this was on you, I’ll happily punch you. What do you say?”

\- “Okay. First, we find Summer, then you can punch me.” – Steve had to give it to Danny. Even thou this was clearly his fault, Danny still had his back and was helping him focusing on what really mattered, instead of letting him feel sorry for himself.

\- “Do we have a location for Pao?” – Steve asked as they walked back to the team.

\- “No, but we just identified the driver. His name is Will Ling and he is also a known Wo Fat’s henchman. We do have a last known address for Ling, thou.”

\- “Send me the address. Meanwhile, pull his phone records and go through it with a fine toothcomb. Maybe we can find something there.”

And with that, Steve left with Danny, Chin and Lou, hoping he could find Ling and get some information out of him, no matter what he had to do.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Meanwhile…_

\- “AAAAAHHHHHHH!”

\- “I have to give it to you, Miss Williams. You’re a lot tougher than I thought you would be.” – Wo Fat said, throwing the knife on the table and picking up the cloth to clean the blood from his hands.

\- “Tr-try being the youngest of five and soon you’ll learn t-to adapt.” – Summer answered, out of breath. She was in a lot of pain, blood covering her body and dripping to the floor.

Wo Fat had been cutting her arms and legs for what felt like forever. No questions, just cut after cut. In the beginning she managed to control the pain, not letting a sound leave her lips. But as time went by and the number of cuts increased, she found herself unable to keep it together any longer. That’s when she started screaming.

He didn’t seem fazed with her screams. He started with her arms, clearly avoiding any major arteries. One cut, then another. Then moved to her legs, again avoiding the arteries. Her clothes were soaked in blood but still she didn’t give him what he wanted. He wanted to hear her plea for her life, to beg him to stop, but she never did. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.

She saw him move towards a bucket of water that had been sitting by her side. She had wondered what that was there for and it seemed she was about to find out. She saw Wo Fat signal one of his men and she immediately felt her hair being pulled. A towel was thrown over her face and she knew what was about to happen. She tried taking a deep breath and then she felt the water hit her face.

She held her breath as long as she possibly could but eventually she needed air. That’s when the water started entering her lungs. She felt herself drown and dread filled her body. “No, no, this is not how I’m gonna go. Please God. Not like this.”, she thought, just before she felt the hand release her. She coughed as much water as she could, bending over as far as she could.

\- “Than-thanks. I was parched.” – She said, amidst coughs and water leaving her lungs. If this was how she was gonna die, then she was gonna die on her own terms. She wasn’t gonna give him the satisfaction of seeing her beg and plea for her life.

\- “You will break eventually. They all do, even the trained ones.”

\- “Yeah, maybe you’re right. But I have one thing that they don’t.”

\- “Really? And what that might be?”

\- “I’m stubborn as hell and I don’t give a crap. So go ahead. Do your worse. I’ll never beg and plea for my life. You can kill me but I’ll die knowing that you won’t live much longer after that.” – She had a smirk on her lips. She wasn’t lying. She really didn’t give a crap.

\- “And why is that?”

\- “Because when my brother and McGarrett find you, and they will find you, you’re going to wish you had never been born.” – She let out a laugh, which for some reason made him squirm.

Wo Fat walked over to the table and picked up a wooden board. Walking back to her, he grabbed her hand and straightened it out. Swinging the board down, she felt it colliding with her fingers and them breaking. A scream left her lips. The pain was too intense. Combine that to everything that had been done to her and she was out cold.

She woke up a while later, all alone in the small room. Her head hurt, she felt weak and in pain. She knew that if the team didn’t find her soon, she wouldn’t last much longer. She had lost too much blood. But even with that knowledge, she was comforted by the fact that she would be free of all the pain that she was in. She knew her brother would never stop searching for her and neither would Steve. However, she feared what her death would do to them.

When Matt died, Danny took it really hard. So hard, that he went off the reservation and got revenge on the man that had killed Matt. But if she was to die, then he would have to share that kill with Steve. She was sure both men would stop at nothing to track down Wo Fat and make him pay for what he had done to her. The problem was the aftermath. What would happen to them when the dust settles and they have to deal with her death?

Suddenly, the door opened and in walks Wo Fat with two of his men. Only this time he seemed slightly worried. Giving orders in Chinese, she saw the men trying to clean up any evidence of their presence there.

\- “Leaving so soon?” – She asked, feeling lightheaded.

He didn’t answer. He just looked at her and smirked. Grabbing a barbecue fork from the table, he walked over to her, circling her as if he was a vulture and she was his dinner. She knew what was coming, she knew it was gonna hurt like hell but she still wasn’t gonna let him win.

\- “Any last words, Miss Williams?”

\- “Yeah. See you in hell, buttercup.” – And with that he plunged the fork in her leg twice, throwing it away after the second stab.

Summer screamed as loud as her lungs allowed her. She felt herself slip into unconsciousness and she knew this was it. This was how she was gonna die. She didn’t hear the scuffle at the end of the hall or saw the look of panic in Wo Fat’s face.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------

_At the same time…_

They had just pulled up to an abandoned warehouse. Kono had gone through Ling’s phone records and found one number that could belong to Wo Fat. Using one of Summer’s programs, she managed to track that number to the warehouse. It also pinged Ling’s phone there.

They cleared their way inside the warehouse, Steve leading the way, until they came across a hallway that had a lot more armed guards than the rest of that place. They were going to have to fight their way through. Steve took a few men out and that’s when he saw him. Wo Fat. Steve looked straight at him and saw him smirking back at him.

“God, no.”, Steve thought as they cleared the rest of the hallway. He entered the room that Wo Fat had just walked out of, Danny close behind, and the sight before him made his heart stop. There she was, Summer, slouching on a chair, completely tied down, blood covering her whole body and on a pool under her, but the worst of it all, unconscious. Was she dead?

Steve didn’t wait to find out. Taking off after Wo Fat, he heard Danny calling out to him but he didn’t stop. “It ends today.”, he thought as he caught up with him. Tackling him to the ground, Steve wasted no time and started punching him, allowing his anger and rage to take over.

Wo Fat got a few punches in and at some point got the upper hand, but Steve was angry, enraged even. Steve kept fighting him, throwing him on the floor and punching and kicking as much as he could. That’s when Wo Fat sealed his faith.

Wo Fat pulled a gun from his ankle and cocked it, only he didn’t count on Steve already having his own gun pointed at him. They stood like that for a moment, Wo Fat laying on the floor and Steve standing near him. Steve didn’t wait for Wo Fat to make a move. He pulled the trigger, the bullet hitting Wo Fat in the forehead. The look of shock on his face was a surprise even to Steve, but at the end of the day he wasn’t going to let Wo Fat win.

Steve rushed back to the room where he knew Summer was. He walked in to see Danny over her, coaxing her to stay with him. Danny heard Steve come in and looked up, tears in his eyes and Steve fell frozen. He heard Lou say that the paramedics were on their way and soon after footsteps were heard coming from behind him. He was pushed aside.

He felt as if he was in a daze. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, it was as if he was underwater. He saw the paramedics fuss around her, hooking her up to the heart monitor and giving her some medication before lifting her and placing her in a gurney, before rushing her out.

Steve stood alone in the room, the team following Danny and the paramedics. In front of him was the chair she had been tied to, covered with her blood. He was pulled from his daze when Chin shook him and said that they were taking her to the hospital.

Steve nodded, not being able to say anything. He knew if he did, he would probably just break down. “Please, God, let her live. Please, don’t take her away from me.”, he though, tears now flooding his eyes, as he made his way to Danny’s car, “I love her. Please, God.”


	12. Let Her Live

Steve followed behind Danny as the paramedics rushed Summer through the emergency doors of Tripler Army Hospital. His heart hurt knowing that she was dying because of him. “They have to save her. They just have to.”, he thought just as they were barred from going beyond the doors to the operating rooms.

They made their way to the waiting area, no one leaving and all with heavy hearts, not knowing if she would make it or not. The team spread around the room. Steve sat in a corner, watching as more of their friends and family arrived, his heart getting full as he saw how many people Summer has touched with her kindness and loving nature.

Danny was sitting up front, Melissa and Grace by his side. The man kept trying to hold back the tears, but every now and then one would escape his eyes. On the row behind him was Chin with Malia and Kono with Adam. Lou was standing up, his wife Renee with him. Kamekona had just arrived, bringing food with him and the loved one’s of every member of his team were trying to get them to eat something.

Steve layed back on his chair and leaned his head against the wall behind him, closing his eyes. Every memory he had of Summer started flashing before him and he could barely keep it together, tears escaping his eyes. Feeling someone sitting next to him, he opened one eye and saw Danny sitting there. The man was a wreck, they both were, but they still knew that for Summer’s sake, they had to keep it together.

\- “She’ll be okay, right?” – Steve asked him.

\- “She’s a fighter.” – It was all that Danny could say before Steve started openly crying. Danny hugged him, feeling the man shake violently in his arms, his own tears falling.

Everyone else watched, tears in their eyes, knowing all too well how Steve and Danny were feeling. Summer had become family to them, in different ways to each of them. To Kono, she was the sister she never had, the one she confided everything with; for Chin, she was the little sister he didn’t know he wanted, going the extra mile to help him, even when he didn’t know he needed help; to Lou, she was like a daughter, wanting to protect her at all costs. Their respective significant others felt the same way, including Kamekona, who took Summer under his wing and made sure that she was always well fed. It was something to watch that giant man becoming a teddy bear when she was around.

Steve had finally gotten his emotions under control when Summer’s doctor walked out. If he was being honest, he didn’t hear a word the doctor had said. All he heard was that she was out of surgery and was doing okay. He knew that the next twenty-four hours were crucial to her recovery, that’s why the doctor was being mildly optimistic. But just when Steve thought everything was going to be okay, the doctor says that she’s in a coma. It felt like someone had just punch him in the stomach and all air left his lungs.

The doctor told them that as soon as she was in her room, a nurse was coming to get them, but Steve didn’t hear it. He was already out the door. He needed air, fresh air. He heard someone calling out to him, but he just ignored them. Once outside, Steve felt that it didn’t matter how many times he took deep breaths, his lungs were never filled. He couldn’t breathe. “She’s in a coma. What if she doesn’t wake up?”, he thought as he squatted against the wall.

The feel of a hand on his shoulder pulled him out of those thoughts. Looking up, he saw it was Danny.

\- “You okay?” – Danny asked him, as he stood up.

\- “I don’t know.”

\- “She’ll be okay. She’s not out of the woods yet, but like I said, she’s a fighter.”

\- “This is my fault Danny. We wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t messed with the wrong person. I’m sorry Danny. This is all on me.” – It came out of nowhere. All he felt was a hand colliding with his jaw. Looking up, he saw Danny shaking his hand and massaging his knuckles. He didn’t fight back, in fact he got ready to take another one.

\- “I told you that I’d punch you if you still felt like this was your fault. Now listen to me, this is not on you. This is on that piece of shit. He was the one who decided to come after one of our own. But that’s over, it’s done. He will no longer hurt anyone. So, right now, you need to focus on Summer. She’s counting on all of us to bring her back, to help her wake up. Do you think you can do that?”

\- “Yeah. I can do that. Thanks, Danny.”

Steve got up and hugged Danny. Danny was right. Now they need to focus on helping Summer wake up, focus on helping her get better. The time to feel sorry for himself was gone. “She’ll be okay. God, let her be okay.”, he thought as he followed Danny back to the waiting room.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

\- _"Matty?"_

\- _"Hey sis."_

\- _"Am I dead?"_

\- _"What do you think?"_

\- _"I don't know. I don't feel dead, but then again, if I was I wouldn't know, would I?"_

\- _"I guess not."_

\- _"Matty, why are you here?"_

\- _"Well, you got three guesses. One, I'm an angel of the Lord, here to convince you to come to heaven with me. Two, I'm the Devil, here to convince you to come to hell with me. Or three, I'm just a manifestation of your subconscious. Which one do you think it is?"_

\- _"So what, I'm unconscious or something?"_

\- _"You're in a coma, sis. Sorry."_

\- _"How? What happened?"_

\- _"You lost a lot of blood and you almost died, but Danny-boy and the rest of your team found you just in the nick of time."_

\- _"How long have I been like this?"_

\- _"Too long sis. They miss you, Summer. Not just Danny. All of them."_

\- _"I miss them too, Matty."_

\- _"But?"_

\- _"I'm scared, Matty."_

\- _"There's nothing to be scared about. Danny is there waiting for you. He'll always be there."_

\- _"I know."_

\- _"Plus, there's also McGarrett. The man loves and adores you Summer. And I know you love him too. Just do what feels right and everything will fall into place."_

\- _"I guess. Matty, I miss you."_

\- _"I know little sis. I miss you too."_

\- _"What do I do now?"_

\- _"You recover and when you’re ready, you wake up. But you need to wake up, Summer. You need to."_


	13. A Fresh Start

It has been a hard few days. Summer was in a private room and everyday there were visits. Steve never left her side. He has been there since day one, along with Danny. They would take turns in showering in the private bathroom, never being too far away from her. They had decided that one of them would always be with her, in case she would wake up. Neither of them wanted her to wake up alone.

The rest of the team would drop by and stay with them for a while, bringing them food and clothes, until the nurses would ask them to leave. “Too many people.”, was what they would tell them. They tried having Steve leave on the first day, but now they knew better than to say anything to him.

Steve was alone in the room with Summer, Danny having gone to the cafeteria to get coffee for them. He was sitting on a chair, by her side, holding and caressing her hand. She had yet to give them a sign that she was waking up and it had been four days since they got there. He was starting to lose hope.

\- “Summer, I don’t know if you can hear me. I hope you do. They say that when people are in a coma that they can still hear what’s going on around them, so I’m hoping that’s true and that you can hear me. You have to wake up, Summer. Please, just wake up. We’re here, we’re all here, waiting for you so we can go eat shrimp at Kamekona’s or go surfing.” – Steve was crying now. – “You can’t leave us like this. You can’t leave me like this. Please. I love you Summer. I love you so much, you don’t even know. I can’t imagine my life without you. You make me want to be better. I just want to be by your side, make you smile and laugh every day. You are my world Summer and without you, I’m nothing. So please, please, come back to us. Come back to me. Please.”

Danny was about to walk in the room when he heard Steve talking to Summer. He decided it would be best to just give him a moment, but he couldn’t move. He knew that Steve loved his sister, but he had no idea how much. By the sound of it, he was sure that if Summer was to ask him to quit 5-0 and the Navy, he would do it in a heartbeat. But he also knew his sister and he knew that she would never ask that of him.

He heard Steve end his conversation with Summer and waited a few more minutes before going in, carrying their coffees.

\- “How is she?” – Danny asked, handing him his coffee.

\- “The same.”

\- “You alright?”

\- “Yeah. I’m okay.” – Danny could see the redness in Steve’s eyes, but didn’t say anything about it. He knew the man was suffering as much as he was. It wasn’t easy to see someone you love laying in a hospital bed, not being able to wake them up.

It would take a few more days before they would get a sign that everything was going to be alright. Steve was dozing off, his head resting on Summer’s bed, her hand in his. He could swear he had felt her hand move. Looking closely at her hands, he saw them twitch again. Calling out for a nurse, startling Danny in the process, he waited while she checked on Summer. The twitching became more pronounced and soon she was responding to commands from the nurse. Both Steve and Danny had tears in their eyes, for just the slight chance that Summer might be waking up was overwhelming.

The nurse asked them to wait outside and called Summer’s doctor. Steve started pacing the hallway until Danny stopped him, claiming he would make a hole on the ground if he kept going. It took a few minutes, that felt like hours to both men, until the nurse came outside, wearing a small smile.

\- “Is she okay?” – Danny asked, voicing Steve’s question.

\- “It’s looking good, but the doctor will come and talk to you in a little while. He’s just finishing up his exam of Summer, making sure everything is okay.” – She answered before walking away.

Danny pulled Steve into a bear hug, saying that she was gonna be fine. Steve couldn’t help but to smile and let a sigh of relief. That’s when fear gripped his heart. “What if she blames me for what happened? What if she hates me for it?”, he thought, as he pulled away from the hug.

The doctor walked out of the room and looked at them, a smile on his face. He told them that from what he saw, she was going to make a full recovery, but that it would take some time. Danny asked if they could see her, to what the doctor agreed, saying that she would still be somewhat tired so to give her that when she needed. They thanked the doctor and Danny started making his way to the door. That’s when Danny saw the doubt and fear plastered on Steve’s face.

\- “What’s wrong?”

\- “Nothing.”

\- “Steve, come on. What’s wrong?”

\- “What if she blames me? What if she hates me for what happened? I can’t… Danny, I can’t. I’m sorry.” – Steve practically ran out the hospital, leaving behind a speechless Danny. Danny could’ve told him that his fears were unfounded, but Steve wasn’t ready to hear it. He still blamed himself and Danny knew there was only one person who could ease that guilt. The one person he refused to see.

He walked into the room and was greeting with a smiling but tired Summer.

\- “Hey, sis.”

\- “Hey Danno.”

\- “Good to see you.” – Danny had tears in his eyes. His baby sister was finally awake. – “How are you feeling?”

\- “Tired but happy to be alive.”

\- “You have no idea how happy I am to see you awake.”

\- “What happened?”

\- “We managed to find you just in time and brought you here.”

\- “And Wo Fat?”

\- “He won’t bother us anymore. Steve made sure of it.”

\- “No one else got hurt, right?”

\- “A few scratches and bruises, but everyone’s alright.”

\- “How long was I out?”

\- “A week. You took your sweet time to wake up, just like when you were a kid.”

\- “Don’t make me laugh. It hurts.” – Summer said, laughing slightly. – “How long have you been here?”

\- “Since we brought you in. Steve’s been here as well.”

\- “Oh?”

\- “Summer, the man never left. He even got in an argument with the head nurse because of it. I had to talk to your doctor to tell the nurse to let him stay.”

\- “Is he outside now?”

\- “No. He, ah, he left.” – Danny answered, lowering his eyes.

\- “Why?”

\- “He thinks this was his fault. That you might hate and blame him for what happened. The guy’s a mess.”

\- “But it wasn’t his fault. I mean, Wo Fat could’ve done this to anyone, either they’d be connected to Steve or not.”

\- “We told him that but you know how he his. He carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. All I know is that he loves you more than anything, Summer. And I don’t think nothing will ever change that.”

\- “I know. While I was in that room, I realized something. I love him too. All I could think about was how my death would affect both of you. For different reasons, of course, but still…”

\- “Steve took it really hard. He was desperate. He even cried, and I mean openly cry. In front of everyone. And you know he doesn’t do that.”

\- “I know. Can you call him? Get him here? I would really like to talk to him.” – She asked, a small smile on her lips.

\- “Sure. Just get some rest and I’ll go call him and the rest of the team.” – Danny said, kissing her forehead before leaving the room to make the calls.

Danny started calling the team first, as well as Melissa and Grace. He left Steve for last for a reason. He knew that it was going to take a lot of persuasion to get him to the hospital. After talking to everyone and making sure that they knew to only visit her the next day, he called Steve. Danny heard the phone ringing once, twice, three times, then going to voice mail. “Dammit Steve, pick up.”, he thought, while dialing his number again.

The phone rang twice before Steve picked up. After berating him for a few minutes, he told him about his talk with Summer and how she wanted to see him. Like he predicted, it took some persuasion but eventually he agreed to come back to the hospital and talk to Summer. He told him he would be there in a few before hanging up. Danny let out a sigh of desperation. “He’s going to be the death of me, I just know it.”, he thought as he walked back inside Summer’s room.

Looking back at his sister, Danny noticed she was asleep. Not wanting to wake her up, he sat back down on the chair that had become his best friend for the last week. He sat there thinking about how much had happened in the last few days. Summer’s kidnapping, the search, finding her close to dying, the week-long coma. It was a miracle how he hadn’t lost his mind completely.

It had only been an hour when he woke up to the vibration of his phone. He looked at Summer who was awake and watching tv. Checking his phone, he saw a text from Steve telling him he was in the hallway. Danny got up, walked over to Summer, kissing her forehead and telling her he would be right back.

Danny walked out to the hallway to see Steve pacing back and forth. Shaking his head, he moved to stand in front of his friend, making him stop. Steve looked up and let out a sigh. Danny just nodded his head towards Summer’s room and walked away, heading to the cafeteria.

Steve stood outside her room, his hand on the handle, trying to gather enough courage to go on. He realized how it must’ve have looked like to an outsider, so taking a deep breath, he walked in.

\- “Hey stranger.” – Summer greeted him with a smile.

\- “Hey. How are you feeling?”

\- “Like I was run over by a truck. But, other than that, just peachy.”

\- “Do you need anything? Can I get you anything?”

\- “I’m fine, Steve. Just sit down.”

\- “Danny said you wanted to talk to me.”

\- “Yes. Danny told me how you were here all this time.”

\- “I was. I… I didn’t want to leave you and Danny here alone.”

\- “Thank you for that. It means a lot.” – Summer said, squeezing his hand. – “Steve, there is something I need to tell you.”

\- “Okay?” – This was it. She was going to tell him that she blamed him and that she hated him for putting her in that situation.

\- “It wasn’t your fault. None of it was your fault. If anyone is to blame is Wo Fat and from what Danny has told me, he can no longer hurt anyone. I don’t blame you and I sure as hell don’t hate you. How can I when I… When I love you.” – Not what he was expecting, at all. He couldn’t believe his ears. Despite everything that happened, Summer was telling him that she loved him.

\- “Summer, I-I…”

\- “Listen. While I was in that room, I came to realize that, no matter how hard I try to fight it, I still love you. I can pretend as much as I want that I only see you as a friend but the truth is that I’ve always loved you. So, I was thinking that maybe, if you still feel the same, we could give it another try?”

Steve didn’t say anything, he simply leapt to his feet and kissed her, feeling her smile into the kiss. He couldn’t believe he could be that lucky. Steve knew that the guilt of what had happened was going to stay with him for a long time, but he also knew that he now had a chance to make it right and to make it up to her.

Summer tapped the bed beside her and he climbed in next to her, holding her in his arms as carefully as possible. It felt right, having her in his arms like that. They stayed like that until the nurse came in and berated Steve for it. That was also when Danny came back, a smirk on his lips when he realized what had happened.

Danny sat on his chair on one side of Summer, with Steve on the other. He was sure that there was no way they could now tear them apart. Sure, they had been through hell, but now there they were, happy as he had ever seen either of them. Now, the recovery started, not just for Summer, but for all of them.


	14. Epilogue

It’s been since Summer and Steve had gotten back together. Things had been going great, so much so that six months in Steve asked her to move in with him. They loved each other more each day and things couldn’t be better.

They were all enjoying a rare day off, hanging out at Steve and Summer’s house, having a barbecue. Everyone was there and having fun. Steve was standing by the shore line when Danny came up to him.

\- “This was a nice idea.”

\- “You can thank Summer for it. She was the one who put it all together.”

\- “So, how are you guys doing?”

\- “Pretty great actually. Who could imagine than when I first met her, we would be here right now?”

\- “Not me that’s for sure.”

\- “She makes me happy, Danny. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy before. Granted, we’ve had our ups and downs, but… I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Well, aside from her being kidnapped and everything that happened with that.”

\- “I hear you. I gotta say, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Summer like this. Being with you does her good. She’s happy and that’s all I can ask for.”

\- “Danny, I need to ask you something. You know how much I love her and that I would never do anything to hurt her. With that said, I was wondering if you…”

\- “Yes, but so help me God, if you hurt her, I will kill you. Got it?” – Danny answered and he could see the look of relief on Steve’s face, followed by a smile. – “Do you want me to go get her or do you have something else in mind?”

\- “Do you mind? I think she’d love to have everyone here.” – And with that, Danny took his leave and went to find his sister.

Danny found Summer happily talking away with Melissa and Renee. Tapping her shoulder, he excused themselves and told her that Steve wanted to see her by the shoreline. Seeing his sister walk away, he knew that her life was never gonna be the same.

Summer stood next to Steve, her arm wrapped in his and her head resting on his shoulder.

\- “Danny said you wanted to talk to me?”

\- “Yeah. You know I love you right?”

\- “Of course. I love you too.”

\- “And you know I would never do anything to hurt you.”

\- “I know. Steve what’s going on?”

\- “I’ve loved you for so long that it feels like I’ve loved you my entire life. I wouldn’t trade what we have for anything in the world. You’re the one for me, Summer, I don’t want anyone else. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So, Summer Williams, would you make me the happiest man in the universe and give me the honor to be my wife?” – Steve dropped to one knee and opened the little blue box to reveal a simple solitaire ring.

\- “Yes, yes.” – Summer had tears in her eyes. Pulling him up, she kissed him, feeling his arms wrap his arms around her waist. Breaking the kiss, Steve grabbed her hand and slid the ring on her finger.

A wave of applause and cheering hit them. Looking over, they saw that everyone had been watching and were now clapping and cheering for them. Making their way back, Summer and Steve were quickly engulfed in congratulatory hugs and kisses. The girls wanted to see the ring while the guys took Steve and gave him a congratulatory beer.

The rest of the day was spent talking about the weeding and what they were going to do. Summer felt her heart fill with love. Looking around, all she saw was people who loved them and who were genuinely happy for them. She glanced at Steve and saw him with the biggest grin ever looking back at her.

“I can’t wait for the rest of our lives.”, she thought, before turning her attention back to the conversation taking place before her.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------


End file.
